We Are Not Alone
by Hachichi the Medic
Summary: Sequel to Consequences. The universe is a pretty big place, but then again, so's Pekopon. Who knows who else is there... Or how long they've been there?
1. Chapter 1

Oh my gosh, a new story . Part three now, of what looks to be an ongoing series... This is a sequel the story 'Consequences', and for those of you just joining us, here's the story so far:

The Keroro platoon has a new, unofficial and much younger member. Chief Mechanic Kirere, who was made from the DNA of Giroro and Kururu and whose purpose was originally to be a super weapon to aide in the takeover of Pekopon. Instead she ended up being an epic failure in nearly everything, save for anything dealing with puzzles.

In the last story, Kirere was used to her full potential, but was stopped by the Keroro Platoon just in time, and rescued from a crazed occult writer, Nicolas Kezanstav. The group picked up another Keronian along the way, the moody many-generations removed uncle of Keroro, Major Romama. Romama isn't on good terms with the team, however, and when we last saw him he had left them, not saying where he was headed.

So that basically puts you up to speed with everything that's been going on... I really hope everyone enjoys this. I won't be able to update this one nearly as often as my other stories, but I still hope you bear with me ^_^' Thanks so much for reading.

We Are Not Alone

Chapter 1:

The old farmer pulled back the sheet, and a set of ice-cold blue eyes looked over the mysterious craft, his lips forming into a smile.

"I think it's something the Soviets might have used," explained the farmer, taking a puff from his pipe.

The other man in the barn glanced at the writing on the side of the ship; it definitely wasn't Russian… It wasn't even of this planet. But the farmer wouldn't have a clue about that.

"I'll give you fifteen for it."

"Twenty."

"….You have a deal," answered the younger-looking man, who ran his hand across the metallic underside of the ship.

"So, you know what this is, then, eh?"

"Yes. It actually belonged to an old, old friend of mine."

"Military?"

"Yes… Now, if you excuse me."

"Mm, just don't blow anything up," grumbled the old farmer, who turned and left the old decrepit barn.

"So one-hundred years later, it ended up in Italy…" he other man was alone now, and after making sure that he was indeed alone, he opened up a control panel, and after pressing a few buttons; having to repeat the actions on the ancient system a few times, the hatch opened, revealing a set of metallic stairs.

He then made his way up the stairs, cautiously, and found some of the lights still in use. As he approached the main deck, he found himself having to crouch down, but he didn't mind this. He was much more excited with his find.

Seven seats in a semi-circled around a control panel, and on the opposite end of the large circular room seven spots where there had been escape pods. One still remained now, much to the man's utter shock. It glowed a dull green, and he approached it cautiously, and wiped away some of the dirt that had accumulated on it.

His face gave way to a wicked grin as he laid eyes on the small creature inside the ancient tank, "Well, a new friend… And you and I shall be very good ones, indeed. Now, I think it's time you woke up, you've napped long enough…"

"I'm home," Giroro announced, opening the door and set aside the knapsack and large rifle, which sat beneath a wall filled with photos and awards. It didn't take long for him to hear rustling in the kitchen of the round Keronian house, and he walked towards this.

"Hi, Daddy!" Kirere smiled and looked up from the picture she was drawing at the kitchen counter.

"Hehe, something else for the refrigerator, Kirere-chan?" Giroro leaned over and smiled proudly at the child, patting her on the head.

"Well, I'm not allowed to touch anything sharp, so I'm not really a big help cooking…" she answered regretfully. "I did do a lot better in class today, I'm up to a fifty in math!"

"Wonderful," he patted her on the head once more, and then walked over to the counter, where the little missus stood in a pink apron, chopping vegetables and sliding them into a pot of boiling water.

"Kuku, how was work, dear?" he asked with his usual chuckle, and tossed more vegetables into the pot.

"Another planet fell to us," Giroro announced. "It was barely a fair match, hehehe."

"Always good to hear," Kururu looked over and his grin grew. "Kukuku! Why don't you wash up for dinner? Fresh towels are in the bathroom."

"I'll get the plates on the table!" Kirere hopped off of her seat and ran to the cabinet, which, even at a proper Keronian's height, she needed to scoot a stool over to reach the plates. She picked up a big stack, but almost immediately fell back, the plates throwing her off balance.

Giroro went running, and slid to the floor, Kirere landing atop him, the plates still in her hands. After a few moments, both she and Giroro broke into a laugh of relief. Kururu turned away from his work, and looked down at the two, and joined in the happy laughter. They were quite the happy family.

"GYYYYAAAAAAAAA!" Giroro bolted up from his sleep, drenched in sweat and shaking horribly. At the sound of his yell Neko had bolted straight up, the fur on her back sticking straight up as she, too, was pulled out of her sleep.

"You had that really, really weird dream where you're married to Papa and we're living on Keron again, didn't you?" Kirere asked flatly as she took another sip from her juice box and sat in front of Giroro, her legs folded beneath her.

Giroro only laid back, panting and staring up at the top of his tent.

Kirere stood up and glanced down at him, meeting her eyes with his, "It might be something you're eating, or the change in the weather…. That's what Doro-kun thinks, at least."

Giroro sat back up after regaining his breath, and looked up at Kirere, "What're you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be at Haruki's?"

"He's here today, avoiding a bill collector," she answered with a cheery grin. Giroro only grunted in disgust.

"That slacker needs to pay his bills and grow up," Giroro stood and stretched. "Ugh, I slept in."

"That's why I'm here!" Kirere's grin grew. "Come on outside, we have something to show you!"

"Eh?" it was only now Giroro heard the noises… Music…? And he now noticed Kirere had a red flower stuck atop one of her headphones, and a red lei about her neck... What was going on...?

Kirere pulled him out of his tent, and Giroro was immediately greeted by what looked to be a luau. As he turned around, he jolted in surprise as his tent had been covered in straw and hibiscus flowers.

"Giroro Gocho! Aloha!" Keroro hopped off of the wooden bench that he sat on with Mois. The sergeant was dressed in sunglasses, a red and yellow Hawaiian shirt, and a floppy straw hat. Giroro watched silently as Mois stood and placed a flower lei about his neck, and Kirere giggled at his puzzled expression.

"Giroro-kun, we heard a scream from inside your tent," Dororo sat at the wooden table, a flower on the side of his helmet and a slice of pineapple in his hands. "We were a bit concerned…"

"Did you have that dream about being married to Kururu Socho again?" Tamama piped up, and Giroro's face went bright red.

"Wha… What's the meaning of this, anyway?!" Giroro shouted, taking a step back from the group.

"It's a luau, Gocho!" Keroro exclaimed happily.

"It's OCTOBER!" Giroro snarled in return.

"Eh, I just mentioned something about cooking Hawaiian tonight, my treat, and it kinda snowballed," Haruki turned away from the grill and scratched the back of his head. "We would've done this at the park, but Aki said no because there wouldn't be any adults, and I didn't count."

"You shouldn't, bill-dodger," Giroro muttered.

"Heh. Enough with the mouth, c'mere and gimme a hand with these burgers," Haruki called, and Giroro grumbled, but did so.

"Wow, they had nothing like this in the village!" Koyuki gasped as she turned the corner with Natsumi, both with leis about their necks and flowers in their hair, as well as long-sleeved shirts and pants that were bright, festive colors. Giroro's face grew bright red; she was so pretty with those flowers in her hair…

"Nothing like this in Tokyo, either, unfortunately. Ah, Hawaii, I shall return to you someday," Haruki sighed dreamily, and flipped a burger off of the grill, its destination the plate Giroro was holding. Instead, it landed atop the stunned corporal's head.

Haruki tilted down a bit as he saw no reaction from Giroro, who only remained standing there, "Eh?...Well, you'd make a good tiki statue. That burger's all yours, Red."

Meanwihile, while the Hinatas had a miniature luau in their backyard, in a different area of Tokyo a young girl attempted yet again to land a pirouette, only to fail once more, in front of all of her classmates.

"I know you say you practice, Aya, but when you perform like that, week after week, it's hard to believe it," came the voice of the teacher.

The young girl, with her light brown hair tied up in a tight bun, only felt a flush come to her cheeks. The class was dismissed soon after, but the girl remained, standing in front of the mirror and trying to land the moves again and again and again.

It was all easy to see from Romama's spot in the attic of the old dance studio, where he sat amongst a sea of old props, having made out a new home for himself over the past few months. He'd taken up a residence there soon after leaving his nephew behind, and had taken to watching the dance lessons to pass the time during the day.

He'd taken a shine to one in particular, a young Pekoponian named Aya. She was smaller than many of the dancers, and sicklier looking. What he couldn't figure out was why after two months, perhaps even more, she still took the abuse. It was true that she did practice, and often, but he had no way of telling anyone this. He simply watched her and helped out in small ways.

Aya stretched a bit as she stood once more, having landed flat on her rear, and was surprised to now see a fresh bottle of water sitting on the piano. She looked to her left, then right, then walked over and took the bottle.

"My little angel came again…" she said quietly as she took the bottle and took a seat at the piano. "…Thank you…"

Romama grinned in self-satisfaction, and moved away from the crack he watched the dancers from. He turned his attention to the old radio he'd found and now used, along with a large pair of headphones. Romama sat back on an old pile of costumes, and switched on the radio. It wasn't so bad a life, albeit not as exciting as his previous ones.

"And now the latest from a newcomer, a girl who's bound to cause a sensation, Chu!" announced the DJ. Romama didn't pay much attention to this, however. His thoughts only drifted until he found himself in a deep sleep, and then he found himself in a much-familiar memory.

"Eh? Kodada-san, what's wrong?"

"I just… I don't think I can do it, Shosa… I'm nowhere near good enough to carry out a mission as detailed as this…"

"Please don't call me that…"

"Eh? Well, why not!? I mean, you're terrific! You're in charge of soldiers three times your age! That's so neat… You've worked hard for it!"

"It's embarrassing."

"Hahaha, well, I could always find another nickname for you."

"I'm fine. Huh? What's this?"

"It's an extra bandanna of mine. I thought you might like it more than wearing that spiky helmet all of the time. You won't look as scary, either. Sorry it still has my symbol on it."

"No, that's fine… Turn around a second."

"Okay. Can I turn back around now?"

"No."

"…Now?"

"No, be patient."

"….Romama-kun?"

"All right."

"Eh?... Kodaaaa! You look so cute! …Urm, I… I mean… Well…."

"T-Thank you…"

"It… It's no problem, really…"

Romama started awake, and went to shout out something, but found he couldn't. There was only silence every time he opened his mouth. He then fell back against his bed, his arms spread and his expression blank and looking upward at the ceiling.

This blank expression immediately faded, replaced by a stunned, wide-eyed one as he heard a small alarm, one he hadn't heard in eons. He sprung up, pulling the headphones from his head and staring into an old cracked mirror. Indeed the symbol on his bandanna was flashing.

Romama took a few steps forward, staring at himself and his flashing beacon a few more moments before dashing out through the small window he used to get in and out of the old attic.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Like this?" Kirere swayed her hips back and forth, Tamama, Natsumi, Mois, and Koyuki joining in.

Momoka sat at the table with Fuyuki, while Dororo, Keroro, Giroro and Kururu also finished their meal at the table. Haruki was awkwardly leading the girls (and lone effeminate boy) in a hula, with the girls varying in success. Giroro was transfixed as he watched Natsumi dance, and Dororo and Keroro clapped to support the girls and Tamama.

"Yeah, kinda, but your arms are a little stiff," Haruki answered.

"You're a natural, Koyuki!" Natsumi said with a grin that made Koyuki squeal with happiness.

"Wonderful job, everybody!" Dororo added, grinning from beneath his mask.

'I would, but… In front of Fuyuki-kun? I couldn't….' Momoka thought to herself , meekly squirming in her seat.

"Romama-kun?!" Kirere gasped suddenly, stopping and causing Tamama to bump into her. This caused a chain reaction where all of the girls, Haruki, and Tamama ended up falling into a dogpile, Tamama on the very bottom.

"Get the hell off of me!" Tamama growled from beneath Haruki, then proceeded to lift and toss aside the mechanic as if he were nothing.

"Ojisama! It's been a while! To what do we owe this pleasure!?" Keroro sat up and chirped happily, totally ignoring the scene of disarray in front of him. "…I was starting to think you didn't like us!"

"Well, the pink and blue one are all right. The rest of you I don't like at all," Dororo said aloud as Romama looked to him. "…Well, thank you for including me in those you like, Romama-kun…. What's that now? He says he got a signal… From his ship!"

"What?" Fuyuki gasped.

"You mean the ship's still in good enough shape to send out signals?" Giroro wondered aloud, clearly skeptical of this.

"Kuku! It could be a malfunction," Kururu chimed in, and Romama spun about and glared at the yellow scientist. "A ship that old, it wouldn't be impossible to think some wires could still send out pulses and send out a signal."

"He says that it's impossible, someone with a specific code must have activated it," Dororo answered, and Kururu only gave his usual snort of indifference at this.

"So your team's still alive, Romama-kun?! That's great!" Kirere chimed in. "Maybe they could help us with the takeover!"

'Oh, no….' a chill went through both Fuyuki and Natsumi, and their eyes met for a moment. Then Fuyuki looked over to Keroro, who wore a wide, wide smile on his face, and said nothing, surprisingly, but only nodded. The wheels in the sergeant's head were in rare form, turning at full speed and smoking at the rate at which they were going.

"Heh, there's no proof except some malfunctioning equipment," Giroro folded his arms, and opened an eye to Kururu. "I hate to agree with you, but I'm afraid I have to. It'd be a waste of our time checking to see if it was a person or just a fluke, and a waste of our own takeover efforts to spend on someone who doesn't even like us, much less want to aide us in any way."

"I'll get dessert!" Haruki chimed in as he noted the quickly tensing atmosphere. "Kirere, why don't you come help me?"

"Huh? I—"

But the little girl was picked up and pulled along by Haruki before she could say anymore, and both vanished back into the house.

"Kururu Socho, there must be a way you could check and see if the signal came from somewhere, right?" Keroro scooted closer to the scientist, who only gave a laugh and took another bite of his food. "If we find the source for Ojisama, we could see if there's a comrade of his there or not! It won't take that long at all, Giroro Goucho!"

"I'm going to need some funding for it, however," Kururu chimed in, and Keroro gave a sigh of defeat.

"I'm not surprised."

"Kukuku!"

"This is a waste of our time, he's not a member of our platoon, he's not even a member of the Keron Army anymore. He's an AWOL soldier," Giroro muttered. "He only comes here now when he needs something, after months of nothing. Why he came here at all is a mystery to me, he doesn't seem to have a need for us any other time…. I'm all for helping a fallen comrade, but seeing as how he has no interest in anything not benefiting the invasion, only himself…"

"Hey, cake!" Haruki called out cheerfully as he walked out with the said dessert, his best attempt at diffusing the sudden tension between the platoon and Romama, who looked ready to strike Giroro. "And it's got… Pineapple!"

"And there's a spicy one, too!" Kirere chimed in, holding a much smaller cake in her own hands.

"Goucho, don't think of this as helping an AWOL soldier, but as helping a relative!" Keroro suggested.

"I can say happily that he's no relative of mine," Giroro snapped.

"…Well, he and Kii-chi are about the same age, he could be a relative someday, Gocho," Tamama muttered, thinly veiling his innocence in this. Giroro faltered, and Kururu looked up from his plate of food.

"He… He says not to worry, she's definitely not his type, anyway," Dororo explained, and Kirere's smile fell. Dororo almost immediately regretted saying it as soon as the words left his mouth, and he took a step back, feeling the sudden chill of the dark aura about the young girl.

"…What's that mean?" Kirere asked gravely. Romama could only hear her low voice, as he back was to her, and then he saw the expressions of those at the table. They were expressions of worry and fear, save for Kururu, who only gave another laugh.

"Cake!" Haruki called out frantically.

"We're not helping you, and that's final!" Giroro snapped. "And stay away from my daughter!"

"Kuku, it could be bad for you," Kururu added.

"I'm not going to date her!" Dororo spoke for an increasingly frustrated Romama.

"You're absolutely right about that, I'll be damned if she'll be seen with an army deserter. The only reason I don't turn you in personally is because there'd be an investigation, meaning we would have higher powers here and they'd be able to see exactly how poorly your fool nephew is doing."

"Ouch, Gocho. That really hurt…" Keroro muttered, his shoulders slumped.

"Quit embarrassing me!" Kirere added in a moan, and Tamama laughed.

"Kii-chi and Roma, sitting in a tree…" sang the black Keronian,  
coming up from behind Kirere.

"Someone make him stop!" Kirere shouted, shutting her eyes.

'….I would have so been better off just hiding out in my apartment and watching stolen cable,' Haruki thought with a pang of regret as the little aliens fought amongst themselves at his feet.

"I can see where Keroro's own thickness comes from if you really think we'll help you, especially with the uncooperative attitude you've shown us," Giroro growled.

"Are you calling me an idiot?! Don't put me in the same category as that stupid frog. I… I didn't make major this young based on looks alone. It… It looks like you didn't make corporal on yours, either…. I'm so sorry, Giroro-kun," Dororo finished in a near-whine of apology.

"The cake's going to get warm here, guys, and it's best cold."

"We know there's a damn cake!" Momoka growled, slamming her fist down on the table and causing Haruki to flinch. "Shut up about the cake already, you weirdo!"

"Goucho, you're missing the big picture here! What if Ojiisama's Platoon is active, and they do indeed want to help us in our endeavor?" Keroro asked.

"And what if they don't? Then it will be a monumental waste of our time. But you excel in time wasting, that's one other thing you and your uncle seem to have in common."

"I have to find Kodada!" Dororo called out, and both Giroro and Keroro snapped their heads over to Romama.

"And… Who is Kodada?" Giroro asked.

"Our… Pilot… And my…." Dororo trailed off here. Romama looked away, and his face went bright red, and he rubbed one of his arms.

There was a silence among the entire backyard, only luau music playing quietly in the background. Kururu reached over and switched off the radio, making it absolute silence.

"Gero gero gero… So that's how it is…" Keroro gave a chuckle, and a grin. Romama's hand reached out, gripping onto the sergeant's neck as Keroro approached him. Keroro gave a choke, kicking in the air as Romama lifted him off of the ground by the throat, and it was only after Natsumi called out he let go of his grip.

"Don't go killing the Stupid Frog, he's on dishes tonight!" she snapped, and after one more squeeze Romama let go, and Keroro collapsed to the ground.

"Gero…. Natsumi-dono, thank you for your kindness…." Keroro coughed as he stood up with the aide of a sympathetic Mois.

"Well, I didn't want to have to do all of these," Natsumi pointed over her shoulder to the table, which was indeed full of dirty dishes.

"Eh?" Keroro and company watched as Romama jumped back, and onto the roof of a neighboring house. "O-Ojisama, where are you going?!"

Romama didn't answer, however. He only jumped to the next rooftop, and kept doing so until he was out of sight. Koyuki leaned forward, intending to follow, but Dororo held out an arm, motioning for her not to do so.

"Koyuki-dono, I think Romama-dono only wants his own space right now," Dororo explained, and Giroro snorted.

"Aw, Kii-chi likes moody pretty boys!" Tamama said in a low voice, and nudged the young girl.

Kirere did then what any rational girl her age, Keronian, Pekoponian or otherwise, would do when being tormented by her older brother. She tossed the cake aside and ran after Tamama, giving a loud scream the entire time. Kururu was quick to catch the cake and watched beside Haruki as Tamama dodged Kirere. The little girl finally ran into the large wooden bench, full force, and passed out cold.

"….Gero…..?" Keroro's eyes went wide as he looked down at the fainted pink Keronian.

'Shit!' Tamama gulped, and slowly backed away. By the time Giroro looked up from Kirere towards Tamama, the black Keronian was also gone.

"….I need to make more friends, ones who aren't aliens or unstable…." Haruki said beneath his breath, looking down at his cake sorrowfully.

Romama gave a kick to the first thing he saw as he entered the attic of the dance studio, and he sat down, cross-legged beneath the old window. It was near nighttime now; he had chosen the long way home, his invisibility shield now working. He walked freely among the Pekoponians, and was able to get a better look at them… They had changed so much since the first time he had met one.

Romama sat back, his eyes half-lidded as he looked at the old wooden floor, and allowed his thoughts to flow back to happier times. Even the bad times on Keron were relatively better to those on Pekopon.

"That's our leader…? You're kidding, right? He looks like he just got out of diapers."

"Fuuujujujuj! You should see the pilot, Chunini-chan. Not much better, I'm afraid."

"…Even Lupapa would have been better, and she's lucky if she can find the knob on a door…"

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?! Say it again, Chunini, now that I've got my weapon on me! Come on, once more! I beg you!"

"Fujujuju!"

"All three of you knock it off and grow up! You know who's not gonna be happy about this."

"…I'm not telling him that Romama Shosa was chosen over him to lead. You can do that, Mahihi."

Romama then turned the corner, and glared at the group of Keronians; he had heard it all, and honestly, he felt the same way. He didn't want to lead the Pekopon research team, either, but… He was a bit of a celebrity, and caved into the pressure. He stood in front of them, looking stern as a Major should, and all stopped, stood, and came to attention at the sight of the proud yet angry-looking young boy.

"…It's good to know I'm familiar to you all already. Our pilot, Kodada, ought to be here soon."

The doors to the room swung open with such force even Romama gave a jump, and turned, knowing that it was definitely not Kodada who had stormed in.

"What's the meaning of this?! This brat's getting even more handed to him!? Why, I—"

"Romama-dono?" Romama bolted up, and in a matter of moments Dororo had a wooden blade at his throat; Romama had Dororo's blade at his; neither Keronian was in any place to move, but after a few moments, Dororo chuckled and laid his blade at his side, Romama doing the same moments later.

"Your trail was easy to follow. I… Hope you don't mind my being here, I was just on my way to my home" Dororo held up his hands and grinned. Romama gave an expression of worn indifference, and turned away from Dororo. He did look over his shoulder a moment later, however, to make sure the blue Keronian was following. Dororo indeed did follow, looking about the attic and taking a seat at a low children's table across from Romama.

"This is a beautiful home you've made for yourself," said Dororo as he looked about. "I wanted to offer my apologies… I think Gocho's just been under a bit of stress, lately, and once he decides he doesn't like someone he's often set on just that. Plus he doesn't look that kindly on military deserters."

Romama's eyes focused on Dororo as he went to setting up a tabletop kettle, and Dororo continued, "I'd like to offer my assistance at least. I realize I'm only one person, but I know the loneliness of being away from your Platoon. I'll take my leave now, I'm sure you want some time to yourself to gather your thoughts. But please entertain the idea at least. I will be at Keroro-kun's tomorrow if you wish to find me."

With this, Dororo stood and hopped out of the window, and Romama removed a card deck from beneath the table, and quietly settled on a solitaire game, all while his mind raced.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"Eh?" Kirere blinked a few times and then bolted up, and immediately swung out of the hammock and onto the ground, falling into a mess of blankets and pillows. Kururu looked up from his magazine and gave a chuckle, watching but not approaching Kirere as the tiny girl fought her way out of the sheets and sat in the pile of them, looking up at Kururu.

"Looks like you have Senpai's temper when your right buttons are pushed, kukuku!" Kururu laughed, and went back to reading his magazine. Kirere groaned and put a hand on her forehead, feeling the bandage and wincing. "Luckily you have his thick skull, too."

"…What're you reading?" she asked after a silence, and he held it up for her to get a better look. "…A cooking magazine?"

"Eh?" Kururu flipped it, and looked over the cover of the scientific magazine, "Kukuku, why would you even think it was—"

He stopped then, setting aside his magazine as he heard an alarm sound, and rushed over to his main computer, Kirere was quick to follow, although at a much slower pace. Kururu took a seat and then began to type away at his keyboard, and Kirere took a seat at the foot of the chair, and watched him work in silence, as she often did. She rubbed her head once more and looked up at the large screen.

"…What is that?"

"Kuku, signals," Kururu answered bluntly, and continued to work.

"….Keronian signals?"

"Looks like they're all over the place…." he muttered, and Kirere watched the screens zoom in and out, and then the signals finally stopped. "Kukuku…. I see, they work in cycles. They won't shut off until someone overrides them."

"This is great, you can tell Romama-kun where his friends are!"

"Kuku, why would I do that? I'm not nice, remember?" Kururu shut down the screens, and hopped out of his chair. "…Plus I'm too busy."

"What?! So, you're not going to—"

"Kuku, not at all," he answered, and left, his back turned to her. Kirere looked back at the black screens, and then remained there a few moments in silence. She had seen where one had been, or rather the general area of where it had resonated from. What she didn't see as she busied herself by removing one of her gloves and writing down what she could remember with a pen on her hand, was the yellow Keronian watching quietly from the doorway.

"Kuku… A do-gooder, in my own bloodline… How disappointing," Kururu said to himself quietly, and then slunk away from her.

"Team building exercises!?" Giroro stood, slamming his hands down on the hard plastic of his desk and looking upward at Keroro in disbelief. "This is just another excuse to get a vacation and slack off!"

"Gero gero gero… Not exactly… After yesterday's series of outbursts, I think it's just what we need, Giroro Gocho! A functional team is a well-oiled machine… Right now as it stands we're in serious need of a tune up."

'…Mechanic talk….? ….Wait….' Giroro thought to himself, then caught in the corner of his eye an unusual gesture; Keroro gave a grin and briefly flashed a thumbs up, which Kirere returned.

"Could you say, an army of one?" Mois chimed in.

"Gero gero gero! I couldn't have said it better myself, Mois-dono!" Keroro laughed, and his voice dropped, "…Mainly because I don't get better lines, but we can't all chose our writer…. Ah, Dororo Heicho! How long have you been here?"

"A-a while… Teicho-dono, I think this is a good idea, for one. It's been a while since we've done anything like this," Dororo nodded sagely.

"Are we going to have to train in the middle of the ocean again?" Tamama asked with worry.

"Close, Tamama Nitohei!" the white screen behind Keroro lit up now, revealing a picture of the Hawaiian islands, "The American islands of Hawaii! After much research, I've come to the conclusion that its climate is optimal and ideal for a Keronian soldier!"

"Hawaii? I suppose this has nothing to do with it being a popular Pekoponian vacationing spot…." Giroro sat back and folded his arms.

"….Giroro, you really are a stick in the mud…." Keroro muttered. "…Then again, you were a boring child, too."

"That's going too far!" Giroro snarled, and Kururu interrupted this with a laugh.

"Kukuku, what an odd place to pick… I wonder if Teicho thought of this all on his own, or if someone else pulled a few of the strings."

"What's that you say, Kururu Socho? ….It sounds almost as though no one here has any faith in my decisions!" an awkward silence followed this; no one dare make eye contact with Keroro.

"Romama-dono!" Dororo called out as the teal Keronian suddenly made an appearance from the ceiling, and hopped down onto the floor.

"Looks like he's taking lessons from Dororo on how to make an entrance…" Keroro muttered. A bit of drywall from Romama's ceiling entrance then fell, and landed right on Keroro's head. The sergeant then gave a groan and slumped onto the floor. Romama paid no heed to this, and only walked over to Dororo.

"What's that? Are you… Certain…?" Dororo asked in disbelief.

"What's he have to say for himself?" Giroro glanced over to Romama, and Kururu gave a chuckle.

"He says that he wants to strike up a deal…" Dororo explained. "…He wants to join our Platoon's cause."

"What?!"

"And if we help him locate where the signal originated from, he'll guarantee a takeover in no time with his skills," Dororo added. "Even if it is indeed a faulty signal, he at least wants to see his ship one last time, and put it behind him and move on. He just wants this one favor of us… And he's asking Keroro-kun as… Family."

"Could you say, anything for the one you love?" Mois chimed in, and gasped as Keroro gave a squeak from beneath the shattered drywall. "Ojisama?!"

"Kuku, who would join us on purpose unless they were at the end of their rope? He must be desperate for resources," Kururu laughed.

"He's got a point…" Tamama murmured.

"Hmph. We'll see how he does on the training exercises. Let's just not hope he's rusty after all of this time," Giroro folded his arms and snorted.

"….It's settled, then…." Keroro announced flatly, and lifted himself up from his spot on the floor. "Ojisama will join us in our group activities, to see if he will indeed by beneficial to the Pekopon takeover…"

Another small piece of drywall fell, hitting Keroro on the head once more. The sergeant gave a moan and tumbled back onto the floor, KO'd.

"…Just remember this is what you wanted," Giroro said with a bit of forewarning in his voice to Romama, who already looked as though he were second-guessing his decision.

"Kii-chi, look at this! Look at all of the rows of buffets!" Tamama gasped in awe as he looked over the brochure, one of many he had in a stack beside him. "Mountains of sweets!"

"Look at this one! They have dolphins!" Kirere added, switching brochures with Tamama. "And you can even going swimming with them!"

"Good to see you two are friends for the time being, at least," Keroro smiled contently and adjusted his pillow. "Or you're both sharing in that youthful energy that comes with taking a trip such as this, so much so that it's overridden your sibling rivalry temporarily."

He sat beside a grinning Mois in Momoka's private jet, while the blue-haired girl sat beside Fuyuki, who looked out the window at the endless blue in awe. Kururu and Dororo sat beside one another, as did Natsumi and Giroro. In the back of the plane Haruki laid back, a magazine over his face while he snored. Paul looked over at the mechanic with nothing short of annoyance. Romama had the seat across from Haruki, and looked a million miles away in thought as he looked out the window silently.

"I hope you enjoy the summer beach home… It's not really that big, but… It's quaint…" Momoka explained quietly, and Romama sat up as the clouds just as soon parted, revealing a luxurious white and pink mansion, with a peach emblem on the very highest point. Kirere hopped up in her seat and pressed her hands against the window, and her eyes went wide.

"It's not bad, is it?" she turned around as Tamama spoke cheerfully. "It's one of Nii-chi's smaller homes, but that doesn't mean there won't be a lot to do!"

"…Just when I come to terms with the inadequacy of my own existence of Pekopon, he rubs salt of the fresh wound…" Keroro sighed, his head and shoulders slumping.

His head moments later met with Natsumi's first, "We give you a better life than you deserve, Stupid Frog! At least you're not in a zoo somewhere!"

"I would suggest everyone buckle up, we're getting ready to land," Paul announced, and glanced over as Haruki gave a particularly loud snore. The butler tapped Haruki atop the head and the mechanic gave a start, bolting up and then yawning and stretching.

"It's good to be home…." Haruki folded the magazine and sat back in his seat.

"Hrm… You look a bit familiar," Paul glanced over at Haruki as the mechanic adjusted the yellow band he wore to keep his bangs back, and Haruki shrugged this off.

"I'm a pretty plain-looking guy," Haruki answered, and yelped as they hit a bit of turbulence. Kirere started to go flying back, but Keroro quickly reached out and caught the young girl, and the sergeant gave a sigh of relief as she now gripped onto one of the arms of her seat.

"Kii-chi makes not listening a talent," Tamama said cheerfully.

"You're such a mean big sister," Kirere answered as she now buckled her safety belt, and Tamama and she shared forced smiles.

Paul remained unmoved, even with the turbulence. They landed not soon after, on the Nishizawas' private landing strip, and Keroro was the first to stretch and breath in the Hawaiian air, "Ah… Did you know that the Hawaiians use the very same word, aloha, for both their hellos and goodbyes?"

"Keep it moving!" Natsumi snapped, kicking Keroro down the stairs and then walking over him as they approached Nishizawa mansion.

"Gero!" the sergeant squeaked as the summer devil stepped over him, and the rest of the platoon hopped over him in succession, save for Romama, who didn't seem to mind stepping on the sergeant.

The teal Keronian looked at the mansion, his eyes wide with awe at the sight of something so large, and Keroro stopped at looked back as he noticed his uncle had stopped in one of the main hallways.

"Ojiisama?" Romama jerked to attention, nodded, and rushed down the hall.

"This is like a spa almost," Natsumi laughed in disbelief as she unpacked her bag, and Mois looked up from her own suitcase and laughed.

"Hello?" Momoka knocked on the opened bedroom door and grinned politely. "I just wanted to see if anyone needed anything."

"Kii-chi, what do you think?" Tamama stuck his head in, and Kirere, who had been sitting on Natsumi's bed while she unpacked, hopped down from her bed and ran over to the brother she'd adopted as her own.

"I love it! Papa said I wouldn't be able to stay at a place like this usually because I'm too uncouth," from the wide grin the girl gave it was clear she had no idea exactly what 'uncouth' meant.

"Nee-chan, Mois-chan! Nishizawa-san and I were going to go down to the beach, there's going to be a surfing competition!" Momoka grit her teeth and her hair straightened out into spikes as Fuyuki announced this to his sister from the doorway. So much for their romantic walk on the beach…

"For real?" Natsumi blinked. "We'll be right down!"

"…I don't need floaties, those are for babies…" Kirere moaned and shooed Giroro away.

"I… I just don't want you to—"

"Keronians are great swimmers, I'm no different!"

"Kuku, and submarines are usually supposed to be able to come back up, but you've proven that wrong…" Kururu laughed as they waited for the last of the group on the front steps of Momoka's mansion.

Haruki, grinning widely with his hands on his hips, looked over to Paul and nodded, "Great weather, eh, Paulie? Can I call you Paulie?"

"…No," Paul's glance at Haruki was severe. "…It'd be in your best interest if you refrained."

"…Oh, 'kay…" Haruki rubbed behind his neck and cleared his throat.

"Ready!" Natsumi ran out in flipflops and her bathing suit, as did Momoka. Giroro went bright red and the only thing that stopped him from collapsing to the floor was Keroro, who gave a sigh and propped the corporal.

"Come on, Gocho, let's get going…" Keroro patted Giroro on the shoulder and they walked down the steps of the Nishizawa mansion, through the small surrounding beach town, and then to the beach itself. It was full of activity, with a DJ playing, numerous vendors, and both tourists and locals swarming about the hot white sand.

"…So where does the team building begin?" Giroro glanced at Keroro critically and folded his arms, but his annoyance was soon forgotten as Natsumi removed the T-shirt she had been wearing, slinging it over her shoulder and wiping her forehead.

"The sun's so bright!" she exclaimed happily. Giroro went a deep shade of red, and only watched, stunned as she walked off with Mois to a drink stand.

"Fuyuki-kun, look at this!" Momoka cried in excitement, and before he could say anything he was following Momoka away from the Keronians. Keroro looked about and noticed that Paul, too, had vanished. Tamama surmised that he was away orchestrating Momo-chii's next great plot to win Fuyuki's love.

"Kuku, all right, we're here, so now what's your plan?" Kururu asked Kirere with a chuckle, and she turned her head to her father, puzzled. "I said I kept you around because you made things interesting, I'm curious to see how you find one signal on an entire island, kukukuku!"

"I'm gonna make a sandcastle!" Tamama exclaimed brightly, taking up his pail and bucket.

"Sounds like a fun endeavor, Tamama-dono. I think I'll join you in it," Dororo added, and the two were off.

"Ah, and I think I'm going to go stake out the territory," Keroro stretched and placed his hands behind his head. "Could be some good… Researching…."

"Eh?!" Giroro yelped. "Keroro, wait—" but it was too late. Giroro looked back, and he was now left with Kururu, Romama, Kirere, and he slacker Pekoponian.

"Kukukuku…" Kururu walked off, only chuckling to himself, and no one questioned him. Kururu did as Kururu pleased.

"Ohhhh lookit!" Kirere's eyes went wide, her mission forgotten as she say rows and rows of motorcycles on a platform, a ways away from the sand. "Haruki! Look, look!"

"….Eh, I… I don't see anything…" Haruki looked away in the opposite direction, and Kirere climbed up his arm and rested on his shoulder, and turned his head to the motorcycles.

"Look! Let's go, come on!" Kirere begged. "Please?!"

"…All right…" Haruki's tone was puzzling to Giroro; it was as if the joy he'd previously been showing had been completely sucked out, and he walked Kirere over to the motorcycles like he were walking to a funeral. This distracted Giroro so when they were finally gone, he saw it was only Romama and him.

The teal Keronian's eyes met with Giroro's, and the corporal sighed, "You can leave, too."

Romama said nothing of this, which was also no surprise, and Giroro found himself alone on the beach. His shoulders relaxed a bit, and he, too went off walking after a few moments to himself.

Giroro found himself away from the party, away from the Pekoponians and his teammates, and on a much quieter strip of white sand. He stopped, having hit something with his foot, and bent down, picking it up and seeing it was a perfect shell, bleached white on the outside while a pearly pink on the inside.

A gift for Natsumi; a blush came across Giroro's face as he thought this over, and then a wide, wide grin as the possibilities flashed through his mind.

This was soon stopped, however, as he became aware of a large wave. More importantly, the large Pekoponian on the large surfboard riding the large wave.

Giroro's world blacked out for a few moments, but when he came to he found himself imprinted in the white sand, and the large Hawaiian man now taking up his board.

"Sorry, man!" he shouted out, his back to Giroro as he ran towards the crowd.

"Eh?... Was he talking… To me?..." Giroro wondered aloud as he saw no one else on the beach.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"Oh, I want to build one like that one when we get back!" Kirere remained perched on Haruki's shoulder as they walked down the rows of bikes. "Wow, they're pretty cheap! Even you could afford one, Haruki!"

"Okay, one, it's in U.S. dollars… That's more than I make in a year, kid," Haruki answered. "That one's more than I make in two years."

"Why're they so much if I've never even heard of them?" Kirere blinked, and Haruki shook his head.

"Because they usually go to private collectors, they're only now starting to mass produce to the public it looks like… Time was owning one of these was like owning a Van Gough with wheels."

"Van who? Does he play baseball?"  
"…It means they're really special," Haruki shut his eyes and sighed, and Kirere hopped off of his shoulder and ran over to one, a bright red one. "Kirere, don't tou—Wait!"

But she did. And the whole row went in succession until all of the bikes laid on their sides, a mangled grave of scratched bodies and paint. Kirere was left there, her eyes wide in frozen terror and standing in the same position she had been in when she touched the bike.

Keroro was on the fifteenth verse of his own made-up version of Blue Hawaii when he stopped in front of a large sign. The sergeant's mouth fell open, and he took off running after retaining all of the information.

"Giroro Gochooooooo!" Giroro was tackled yet again, this time by Keroro. The corporal grunted, and Tamama and Dororo looked onward, near tears. Keroro had bounded straight through their sandcastle.

"I have our team building strategy!" Keroro announced happily, and Giroro only answered with a punch that sent Keroro flying.

"All right, I'm listening," Giroro rubbed his sore knuckles and Keroro sat up in the mound that had once been a sandcastle.

"Keroro-kun…" Dororo's voice cracked, but this went unnoticed. Keroro was in full hyper mode.

It wasn't long before Keroro had the platoon, save for Kirere and Romama, gathered around the poster. Kururu had appeared out of somewhere quietly and laughed as Giroro looked on in anger.

"I know that look, Gocho… You're an easy tell," Keroro grinned. "But it's not just a Gunpla, it's an exceedingly rare variant. And there's a cash prize awarded as well, one we can put towards the invasion! If we all work together it'll be a great way to solidify our team and boost our morale!"

"As long as we go about this fairly I am all for a bit of friendly competition, Teicho-dono," Dororo nodded.

"Kukuku, could be interesting…"

"Yeah, we'll kick their asses!" Tamama clenched his fist.

"Heh, pointless…" Giroro turned away from them, but looked up as he saw Natsumi hurrying to the edge of the beach.

"Wow, Mois-chan, look at everyone competing! So cool!"

"Could you say, a game of survival for the fittest?"

Giroro clenched his teeth as he saw Natsumi's far-off look, "Fine, we'll do it."

"Keroko is your name?" the judged repeated, looking up at the green-faced woman critically. "She" only gave a chuckle and smiled innocently. "And you and your four friends are joining…?"

"I hope the boys out here won't be too hard on us… They all look so big and mean, but I think we can take them, gero gero gero!" Keroro grinned, and took his number as the judged handed it to him. "Thank youuuuu~!"

The others then took their numbers, and the judges were left there, stunned. The one sitting next to the one who had passed out the numbers turned to him, "If this were a contest for ugliest tourist we would've had a five-way tie!"

"Let's just see if they can surf…."

"That's a face not even my mom could love, and you've seen my younger brother!"

Kirere sniffed and wiped her eyes, which were still full of tears, and watched as Haruki walked away from a group of salesmen, a neutral expression upon his face and his hands in his pockets. He'd been the closest to the bikes, and it had looked from the way he was positioned to stop Kirere like he had been the one who pushed them.

"I'll work it off, really, I promise! And I'll listen next time, I swear! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay!" Haruki laughed and bent down, and lifted her up, "Trust me, they were all fine. No more crying, okay? We're on vacation!"

"And you're finally back in Hawaii," she wiped her eyes. "And it didn't take long for me to screw that up at all…"

"…And I might've worked something out with those guys back there…. One of the bikes took some engine damage, there'd be no profit in trying to fix it…. So…"

"Wait, we get to take one?! How did you…?"

"Eh, I've got my ways…. I'm a loser, but I can talk myself into some pretty sweet deals," he shrugged, and now noticed her looking back over his shoulder at one of the other rows of bikes. "…I know what you're thinking, and you're not going to destroy the red bike so we get to keep that one, too."

Kirere gave a moan and sunk back down, "Just be happy with the one we're getting… It's not like you can ride them anyway…. Even as a human you'd be what, eight?"

"Ten!" she snapped defensively.

"Yikes, sorry… Come on, we'll get you some ice cream…"

"Ugh!" Giroro hadn't expected the waves to be as rough as they were; Dororo was the only one besides him out of the five who was having any sort of luck. The red corporal looked over his shoulder and saw Natsumi standing on the beach, and gritted his teeth. He had to try harder.

Keroro had wiped out almost instantly, and Tamama had crashed into a pile of rocks. Kururu apathetically laid out on his board, giving an indifferent 'meh' to the entire situation.

"Woah, slow down there!" Giroro recognized the voice from anywhere. "You're turning red, man!"

He was a large Pekoponian, tanned skin, and black hair. Large as he was, his size didn't make him any less graceful on the surfboard. He zoomed past Giroro, gliding along the blue ocean, and Giroro's anger only grew.

"Taunt me, will he… He hasn't seen my full potential," Giroro growled to himself, and saw it coming; a huge wave. He was stunned in awe and fear for a few moments, then saw his new opponent headed straight for it. He tilted his head down and took off, struggling to keep balance on the board. It'd stopped being about the prize money long ago. Natsumi was on that beach and so was Kirere, more than likely. He couldn't lose face in front of both of them.

"G-Giroro-kun, wait!" Dororo yelped, stopping short a ways away from the wave. Giroro didn't hear him, however. Before Dororo knew it, his friend and a few other surfers had vanished into the towering wave.

"Wow, they're not usually this good this time of year," muttered one bystander to another on the beach.

"Looks like Mahihi may have a little competition…"

"You mean that one guy with the really bad sunburn? Yeah, he looks serious," muttered the other.

"Mahihi?" Natsumi wondered aloud, and one of the old mean nodded.

"Runs a surf shop… Undefeated since he came here," answered the man. "Nice guy…"

"Hey, Nee-chan… Those other surfers came up, but I don't see Giroro!" Fuyuki said suddenly, and Natsumi snapped her head over. Indeed the rest of the surfers had either resurfaced or headed back to land, including the towering Mahihi.

"Giroro?!" Natsumi called out, rushing to the shore just as Keroro and the rest of his platoon, sans Giroro trudged up on shore, battered and beaten.

"It would appear as though… Mother Nature has taken this round… Eh? Natsumi-dono?" Keroro turned his head as Natsumi stood at the edge of the beach, then tossed aside her shirt and dove into the water.

"Hey, where's that red guy?" Mahihi turned to one of the spectators, who pointed back to the sea.

"Still haven't seem him…" there started a collective mutter throughout the crowd, and Mahihi looked about a bit, and then rushed away from them.

Giroro was falling, falling down into the deep green, and he could do little about it. He had taken a blow to the head from his surfboard, and the foot of his suit was entangled in the cord that kept him connected to the surfboard. His vision was starting to blur when he saw a large dark shape move above him. It wasn't a dolphin, more Keronian shape…. But it was larger than any Keronian he knew…

"One, two, three…" the corporal felt like his diaphragm was being crushed when he finally did come to, and he spat out some of the sea water, coughing it up and then attempting to sit up, dazed.

"Dude, thanks, I was getting tired of giving you mouth-to-mouth," answered a mellow voice. "I'm have trouble explaining you dying to my wife, I'm supposed to be at work. You okay?"

"…Eh?" Giroro's eyes were adjusting; at first he thought the green Keronian was Keroro, but he was much too dark a green, almost a forest color, and the helmet he wore was a lighter shade of green, and more the shape of a swimming cap than a traditional helmet. Before he was able to make out any other details he felt a dual assault. First Natsumi embracing him tightly and then Kirere joining in soon after.

"Can't… Breath…" he choked. "…You're both killing me…!"

"Oh!" Natsumi gasped and broke away, and then pulled a still-clinging Kirere away. He looked past the two and saw Romama standing with the rest of the tired-looking platoon, his arms folded and looking off, toward the new Keronian.

Giroro was now able to make out the rest of the details. He was at least half a head taller than even Kururu, who was the tallest among them, and his eyes were a bright ocean blue, and half lidded. His symbol was a turtle shell shape, and was a sky blue on both his stomach and cap. He wore a yellow Hawaiian shirt with red flowers as well as a shell necklace.

"Wellll guess my cover's pretty much blown," the tall Keronian sighed, and scratched the back of his head. "Name's Mahihi Chui, I was on the same assignment as the Boss over here, and one of the ones that got separated… Ehhhh sorry if I'm not much to look at, I've gotten a little out of shape."

"You're huge," Dororo answered for Romama, and Mahihi only gave a laugh, and slapped Dororo on the back, sending the fragile blue Keronian jerking forward a bit.

"Mahi mahi mahi!... Looks like you haven't changed… But what's with the assassin doing your talking for you?"

"He lost his voice!" Kirere piped up.

"Really," Mahihi muttered, and looked back at Romama. "Man, that stinks… So where's everybody else? Lupapa and Kodada and everyone… Heck, I'd even kill to see that flake Fujuju again!"

"Ojisama is currently unaware of the whereabouts of the rest of his platoon, but it really is an honor to meet you, Mahihi Chui!" Keroro grinned brightly, and looked to Giroro, his grin growing wider.

"What?!" Giroro snapped, and Keroro kept up with his shit-eating grin.

"Looks as though... It wasn't a malfunction after all, Giroro Gocho..." Keroro laughed.

"Hehe, come on, let's head back to my place… You can bring your Pekoponians along, too," Mahihi announced. "It's not really safe for us all to be out here like this, anyway."

"…Thanks for the permission," Natsumi muttered as they walked away from the beach and Mahihi led them to a white-painted home with a wide wooden porch and screened-in front door. A white van sat parked outside, and Fuyuki nearly tripped over a toy fire engine that had been left up the gravel path.

"Honey, I'm home!" Mahihi shouted as he opened the screen and stepped into the living room. "And don't kill me but… I brought some tourists with me!"

Natsumi looked about the cluttered home, bending down and picking up what looked to be a poorly scrawled drawing in crayon. She was about to show her find to her brother when a large woman walked in, still holding a pot in hand, and frowned while Mahihi gave an innocent grin and shrug.

"Sorry, my phone got totally trashed saving aka baka here from drowning," he pointed over his shoulder to Giroro, who gave an indignant growl.

"Aka baka?!" Giroro repeated in disbelief.

"Gero gero… I like the company you keep, Ojisama," Keroro smiled in amusement, while Kururu gave a small chuckle of his own. "Eh?" Keroro looked over, and noted Romama was oddly absent.

"Take a seat, don't mind the mess," Mahihi moved over and brushed off more toys from the couches.

"This place makes your home look neat, Haruki!" Kirere said with a well-meaning grin as the mechanic took a seat.

"Cute… I'm sure your room isn't much better," Haruki yelped as he took a seat, and pulled out an Admiral Geroro action figure. "What's this crap?"

"S—Someone's playing with one of those, like it's a toy!?" Keroro went pale with horror.

Mahihi shrugged, "The kids just like it because they say I look like one of the guys on it… I don't see it, personally."

"K-kids?!" Giroro choked, and began to shake. '…Bastard… Has my life!...'

"Yeah… Hey, where are they anyway?" the large dark-haired Polynesian woman had retreated back into the kitchen, and she stuck her head out as she heard Mahihi.

"They should be home soon, they're still down at that surfing competition… There was a party afterward."

"Which I wouldn't know about because I was at the shop the whole time," Mahihi answered, and sure enough, in bounded several dark-haired children, all varying in ages. Tamama and Kirere, who were caught in the crossfire of the stampede, gave looks of panic, and Tamama managed to jump away, pulling Kirere along with him.

"Hey, hey… Good to see you guys, too! Put Daddy down!" Mahihi laughed as the children gathered around him.

Giroro's mouth was gaping open. Keroro only looked silently puzzled, as if he were trying to figure out the logic of this in his mind, but something wasn't quite clicking.

Mahihi gave a laugh as he was finally set down by his oldest, and ruffled the hair of the youngest child, "Go wash up for dinner while Daddy talks to his friends…. Sorry about that—Eh? Oh, you're wondering about-Those're my stepkids. You can't convince them of that, though… Yikes, any of you know how to fix my back now?"

"Yeah, I got you," Haruki stood, and a loud pop came as he put his foot on Mahihi's back and took his two arms, pulling forward. "Three years of medical school, you learn something!"

"Oh, gross…" Natsumi put a hand over her mouth and looked away, and only then became aware of Romama, who sat on the front porch by himself. It was dark now, and a deep blue outside. He was barely visible, aside from his red scarf.

"Hey, I'll be back," Natsumi said quietly to her brother, and Fuyuki nodded, and watched as Natsumi went out the front door. Mahihi stood there a moment, watching this, then turned his attention back to the platoon.

"So, how about we go onto the back porch for a talk? I'm sure you guys have some questions and… The Boss ought to be joining us soon," Mahihi pointed over his shoulder, and Giroro, along with the rest of the platoon, hopped off of the couches. Kirere went to go join, but Giroro stopped her.

"It'll be boring. Stay here with everyone else," he answered, and before she could protest, the little girl was left with the Pekoponians and lone Angol, who was playing with the swarm of children. Tamama made sure to stick out his tongue to her as he left, a gesture which she returned.

"So I wonder if this means Romama-san will actually be joining forces with Gunso now that he's found one of his teammates," Fuyuki wondered aloud.

"I dunno…" Haruki glanced to the front porch. "He looks awfully down for someone who just had a reunion…"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"Romama?" Natsumi called out, and the boy turned his head at the sound of his name. She took a seat next to him and smiled, looking down at him and then at the beach out in front of them. "What's wrong, don't you want to be with your friend?... Oh… I guess you couldn't tell me even if you wanted to, huh? Sorry, I forget…Stupid Frog and his friends never shut up, it's weird having one that doesn't talk for a change."

She kicked her feet back and forth, and Romama answered with nothing, only silence. He glanced up at her and back out at the ocean, and she sighed, and brought her legs to her chest, and rested her chin on her knees.

"You just want to find your friends, don't you?" Romama looked stunned at this, and she smiled and gave a laugh. "You can tell you're related to Stupid Frog, anyone can read you like a book…. At least you don't talk as much as him. It's still got to be frustrating though, not being able to say anything at all… Eh? Oh, I've got an idea! Wait here!"

Romama watched, curious, as she bolted up from the porch and returned, crayons and paper in hand, "I know it's kind of a kid's thing, but… Maybe we can talk like this."

"You don't seem that concerned about your superior missing from this meeting," Giroro said as they sat on the back porch, and Mahihi gave a shrug.

"That's how the Boss has always been… He'll join when he feels like it, and somehow know what's been going on the whole time. I guess some of us never change, but others of us…."

"H-hopefully not your fighting prowess has remained intact, Mahihi Chui," Keroro folded his hands and smiled, and Mahihi looked a bit confused by this.

"Yeah, hey, I was the best hand-to-hand fighter on Keron, time was… Things might be different now, though… You guys are probably a lot stronger than I am, I mean, they must've raised the bar for fighters at this point, right?"

Keroro broke the silence that followed this, "Gero… Well, perhaps you could give us some more information as to how you survived so many years!"

"I only woke up about a hundred years ago, slept through everything else… No complaints there, I got to miss dinosaurs. Have you seen those things? Anyway… So, yeah, I woke up, and there wasn't anyone around… Turns out I was hundreds of miles away from Japan, the original destination. So I bummed around here after losing hope of anyone finding me, pretty much… Then I met Daisy, and… We met when she was scared by me and attacked me with a frying pan. I still have the knot on my—"

"Why didn't you invade yourself if you're so strong?" Tamama wondered aloud.

"That wasn't the job, we went to research and see what we could bring back, to see if it was worth invading. Plus who would want this place? It's all salt water, and Pekoponians are ruining it themselves, anyway. I can name a dozen better planets a galaxy over."

"…." Keroro remained silent. Giroro went pale. Kururu laughed. The rest had nothing to say.

"Woah…. You're invading? Dude, that explains why my symbol kept flashing… …Well this is awkward."

"Keroro. A word," Giroro gripped onto the Sergeant by the back of the head and pulled Keroro out before Keroro could give a single word of protest.

"He's an idiot!" Giroro growled as he pulled Keroro away from the meeting. "We might've found someone, Keroro, but his brain's been corrupted by this place! And—What?!"

He heard laughing from the front porch; he snapped his head over to the sound, and stormed out of the living room and onto the porch, pulling Keroro along with him.

"Ta… Te… Ti… To…" Natsumi wrote out, and Romama followed shakily.

"You're doing great! Your handwriting's better than mine, Romama-kun!" Kirere chirped, now outside with the duo and drawing her own picture. She had managed to slip out of the grasp of Mahihi's children, who found her a novelty and badgered her until she managed to slink out.

"Eh, Giroro? What's wrong?" Natsumi looked up as both the red Keronian stomped out of the house and onto the porch, Keroro still in his grasp.

"He'll be of no help to us in the invasion!" Giroro snapped. "I was right! This was a waste, after all!"

Giroro continued, while Mahihi watched from the sidelines with the rest of the Keroro platoon, "…He always get this riled up this easily?"

"That's just how my Papa is…" Kirere sighed, watching Keroro and Giroro go back and forth and allowing her shoulders to slump a bit as she sat up. "…He's usually not this bad, though."

"Eh? That's your dad? …Yeah, that'd explain why you kept calling him 'Papa', then…" Mahihi said with a nod.

"…He's an airhead…." Tamama said to himself with a groan.

"Hehehe, not always… Time was I was a pretty good soldier, but five kids will really change a guy… I'm happy for the change, myself… I was such a nag before; I'm embarrassed to admit it… It was research this, mission that… Like a broken record! Then I found love and… Yeah, who'd have thought that would do me in?"

"Wait… S-so you mean you were like…?" Dororo looked out the window to Giroro, and Kururu gave a laugh.

"Ojiisama, make Giroro stop!" Keroro yelled at Romama and pointed to Giroro.

"What?! Don't go to him for help! Fight your own battles!"

"Okay, you two are making my four-year-old look mature… Cool it or I'll call out my wife," Mahihi stepped outside, "What's going on here, anyway?"

Giroro turned away and huffed, "It's nothing, we just made a wasted trip…"

"I… I think Giroro's just a little disappointed… We were expecting someone…." Keroro began.

"Not me," Mahihi nodded. "I think that's a mutual feeling with everyone… I could kinda feel it…. The boss here could tell you himself that I wasn't this out of shape, if he wasn't out of shape himself."

"You stupid frogs don't go getting him in on this!" Natsumi snapped. "I have enough trouble keeping track of you as it is, the last thing we need is another one running around!"

"Mahi mahi mahi! She's your real leader," Mahihi laughed at the reaction Keroro gave. "…Don't worry, I don't plan on it. My place is here, but I do appreciate you checking in."

"What about Kodada then?" Kirere stood on the porch with Tamama, Kururu, and Dororo. Mahihi was silent for a while, and looked away.

"Hate to disappoint you, but I don't know where anyone is… I'm shocked anyone's alive, after the crash we took… But, it is good you visit. I appreciate it, Boss."

"But we need help with the invasion!" Kirere shouted.

"Then… Try Lupapa, she's the warrior type. Maybe she still is. I've grown out of the military, thanks. I thought that was my life," Mahihi answered.

"So you're just as bad as your superior, an AWOL soldier," Giroro snapped, and Mahihi stopped, and turned around. Natsumi thought it odd Romama stood and lifted up the wooden sword from his side. Keroro yelped as Mahihi turned around fully, facing Giroro and now walking over to the corporal, and the sergeant ran up the steps, using Dororo and Kirere as shields from the dark green Keronian.

"I'm not AWOL," Mahihi said sternly. "I loved the military, it was my life. When my signal started flashing, I was actually excited for a few moments at the thought of being called back… But then I remembered I have something I care about more, and it's here."

Romama eased his tense position a bit, and Giroro let go of his hold on Keroro. He and Mahihi went their separate ways, neither saying anything.  
Kirere hopped down the steps, and went to follow Giroro, but he stopped and looked back at her, and spoke sternly, "Kirere… I… Need to get my thoughts together. Keep playing with Romama."

The young girl looked a bit hurt, and Tamama saw this, and went to her, "Come on, Kii-chi, we can go back to Momochi's—One of the chefs can make us cake, we can even make a spicy one for you!"

"I'm okay," Kirere gave a smile. "I'm gonna stay and color… Huh? Natsumi-san?"

"I'm going to go check on him," Natsumi answered. "Make sure he doesn't do something stupid."

Romama watched Natsumi run off, then looked over his shoulder, through the window into the house. Mahihi was in his living room, seated on one of his couches. His eyes met Romama's, and the tall Keronian sighed, stood, and trudged out of the room.

Giroro finally stopped walking a good distance away from the house, but still able to see it through all of the tropical forestry. There weren't many lights around him. He looked up and through the brush could see a full moon, and not only that, but stars upon stars. There wasn't a view like this back in Tokyo…. He wondered what was going on on Keron.

"You don't seem to like me a whole lot, and I'm having a rough time figuring out why…"

"Eh?! When did you get here?!"

"Oh, I'm a big guy, but I'm pretty stealth when I want to be," Mahihi answered, stopping behind Giroro.

"Hrm. We'll be of no more bother to you," Giroro muttered, and turned around to Mahihi. "You seem to have a nice… Family."

"Yeah, they're my world," Mahihi nodded.

"Giroro?" Natsumi called, and came into view then. Giroro looked stunned, and Mahihi noted this, and watched the two with great interest.

"You hurt Kirere's feelings, being cold like that," she placed her hands on her hips.

"I… I what? Well, I..."

"Eh?... We were just talking over a few things… Ya know, military talk," Mahihi answered. "He'll be back in no time."

Natsumi gave a half-hearted sigh, then turned away from the two, "All right. Just not too long. I don't like you stupid frogs out of my sight!"

"Stupid frogs? You take that?... Wait a second!" Mahihi pointed at Giroro and laughed after Natsumi was out of hearing range. "You and she—"

"It-It's not like that!" Giroro's face went bright red, and he was practically steaming.

"…I thought she was a little young to be your kid's mom."

"She's not! Don't even think that! We're not like that!" Giroro stopped short, his mouth hung open as Mahihi began to laugh loudly.

"Dude, it's okay! Looks like we've got more in common than I thought!" Mahihi patted him on the back with such force Giroro nearly fell on his face. "…If you mission isn't successful, you don't get to stay, am I right?"

"Y-Yes," Giroro nodded. "And Keroro… Our leader… Is an incompetent. My soul dies a little more with each failed mission."

"So you were hoping I'd help you, I dig," Mahihi nodded. "Well, can't say I'm for it, but I'm not unfair…"

"What-what's that now?"

"You seem like a pretty good fighter… You beat me, I'll help you guys out. I might be a little rusty, but—Are you crying?"

"No. Shut up!" Giroro wiped his eyes after turning his back to Mahihi. 'This… This is fantastic! Thank you, Romama…'

"Well, you better get back… I'm sure your kid's waiting up for you."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna do some training, but I'm kind of embarrassed to in front of anyone. I mean, it's been a while, I could be rusty. See you in the morning. Bright and early."

"Bright and early," Giroro nodded, and left Mahihi alone in the forest. Mahihi's shoulders fell a bit, and gave a tired sigh.

"Man… I better remember to take it easy on the little guy…"

The platoon had made a decision to stay overnight with Mahihi after being told of his and Giroro's wager, and they were all sprawled out along the couches, Tamama and Kirere having fallen asleep side by side on the edge of a couch, Kururu taking up the recliner, Keroro and Giroro on the loveseat. Dororo was asleep on a mat on the floor, and Mois took up the rest of the couch. The rest of the Pekoponians had decided to head back to Momoka's for the night. Romama was the only one of the group awake in the middle of the night.

Romama jerked his head to the left as he heard something from the bushes, then stood, and gripped onto his sword. It was nothing, though.

The noises stopped after a moment, and he looked back down at his drawings, which still laid spread out on the ground. There was one in particular… An orange Keronian, with a red bandanna about her neck…. He picked this one up and hid it away safely.

Romama then looked out one more time, and then headed into the house.

Kirere gave a yawn and stretch as she arose early that morning, and yelped as one of her arms slammed right into Tamama's face. She hopped down and away from her older brother before he knew exactly what had happened.

On her way to the bathroom, she caught a glint from outside. Her eyes sparkled, she knew just what it was.

Moments later, she was hugging onto the motorcycle as though it were a kitten or a puppy, a wide, happy smile upon her face. Christmas had arrived early.

"Some guys delivered it this morning," Mahihi stopped at her and stood, his surfboard underneath one arm. "I don't blame you, if I got a Suzuyama bike, I'd probably be hugging it, too."

"Mm, it's not just Haruki's, it's mine, too!" Kirere announced with a proud grin.

"No, that's the name of the bike brand… As in the Suzuyama family. They're famous for this stuff," Mahihi shook his head, and pointed to the shiny silver letter on the side. "See? Suzuyama."

"…Kire?" Kirere hopped off of the motorcycle and scanned over the letters. "Are… You sure it says that?"

"Yup… Hey, I gotta get goin', but you have fun with that! Your Pekoponian will probably drop by later to pick it up."

"…..Yeah…." Kirere nodded solemnly, and stood there, numb, not paying attention to Mahihi leaving.

"Kirere-channnnnnn~!" Keroro waved to her from the porch, his female Pekoponian outfit on, along with Dororo and Kururu. Tamama was there after a moment, too, an arm-shaped red mark going across his face and his eyes forming a glare. "We're going to need some help today, we need all the hands we can get!"

"Kirere-dono?" Dororo called out, and the ninja's voice snapped her out of her trance.

"You get to sell hats!" Keroro announced cheerily, holding up a cardboard box. "The extra expense was worth it to have these made and shipped over night! This battle of brawn between Mahihi Chui and Giroro is sure to be one for the ages…"

"Kukuku… Flyers went all in this morning's papers, Teicho," Kururu laughed, and tossed a compact to Kirere. She looked down at it, and then hopped up the stairs, a blank look upon her face.

"Eh?" Kururu looked over at the bike, and the shiny name 'Suzuyama' caught his attention. He then looked back to the door where Kirere had vanished. He said nothing of this, though, and merely picked up a box and headed down to the beach with the others.

"….Dude, what the heck happened here?! My wife's going to kill me!" Mahihi stood beside Giroro, his cloaking device already on. He then looked down, and noticed the sand under his feet had become a sheet of glass. It was the heat of Giroro's rage melting the sand into glass.

The banner that hung up high above the packed crowd read, "Japan's Giroro versus Hawaii's own Mahihi, a Battle to the Death!" There were booths set up all along the beach, selling food and wares. Natsumi and the other Pekponians walked about, as confused as Giroro and Mahihi.

"Giroro, what—" Natsumi started, but was quickly bumped out of the way by Pekoponian-suited Keroro.

"Ah, the competitors have arrived! Excellent!" Keroro clasped his hands together. "Come one, we've got to get you two ready! There isn't much time!"

"…Keroro…." Giroro's words seeped with hatred.

"Kirere, hey, did you like the—" Haruki, who was with the group of kids, stopped short, however. The little girl, now in the Kururuko suit, only looked back at him and gave him a Kururu-worthy death glare. "Woah… Did I… Miss something?..."

"I'm starting to think I did," Natsumi muttered as she looked about at the decorations.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"What's the meaning of this, Keroro?!" Giroro pulled up his superior by the neck as he now stood in a Pekoponian suit, Mahihi next to him in his human disguise, and looking a bit tired and confused. Mahihi held his surfboard underneath one arm, and looked about at the large audience with half-lidded eyes.

"Gero gero… After hearing of your competition with Mahihi Chui, I decided to… Capitalize upon your endeavor…" Keroro's eyes narrowed and her grinned.

"Could you say, buying in by selling out?" Mois suggested with a grin as she passed, selling banners for the occasion.

"How did you even have time for all of this, Gunso?" Fuyuki wondered aloud.

"You make enough of these plans you make connections, kukukuku!" Kururu chuckled. "I have work to do. You, don't—Kuku, well, looks like she isn't here…."

"Suzuyama-san isn't here, either, come to think of it," Fuyuki looked about and noticed both Haruki and Kirere absent.

"Good, maybe he got eaten by a shark," Natsumi muttered coldly.

"Nee-chan, that's kind of cold…"

"I must agree with Fuyuki-dono, Natsumi-dono. You'll never make anyone a fine wife with your tongue," Keroro laughed. Moments later, he found himself face-down in the sand, Natsumi's foot squishing his head and keeping him pinned.

Giroro gave a sigh, "Mahihi, let's do this."

"Urk, we… Set up the competition for you two…" Keroro retrieved a list all while still face-down on the ground, and Giroro took it. Both he and Mahihi read through it.

"A food competition? Dude, I think you and I are cool again," Mahihi said, clearly impressed. "All right, Aka-baka, let's get this down. First comp's a shooting one."

"In the bag," Giroro muttered to himself.

"Kirere?" Haruki tapped an orange-haired woman on the shoulder, only to receive yet another slap across the face. "OW! Hey, I didn't even deserve it that time!... That's gonna leave a mark… Hey, Kirere!"

He spotted the little girl in the human suit, and grabbed her by the shoulder, "You won't believe how many orange-haired girls there are here!"

"Hrmph," Kirere shrugged off his hand, and went back to selling hats. "Hats! Hats for sale! One for ten, or two for twenty! Hats for sale!"

"…Oh, I get it. You found out I'm the one who broke your Jones Brothers CD, right?" from the glare she gave, it was clear that it wasn't that that she was upset about. "I-I-I was going to replace that when I got the time, I just… I looked weird every time I tried to re-buy it! People stare when a thirty-something guy's trying to buy a boy band CD, ya know."

"You got the bike because you're a Suzuyama! Like, not just a Suzuyama, but one of THE Suzuyamas!" Kirere snapped. "I'm not stupid!"

"I n-never said that… I never denied being one of them…" Haruki scratched the back of his head. "You were able to read that?"

"Yeah! I'm not stupid!" Kirere snapped, and Haruki jerked back. "And now I find out you broke my CD, too!"

"…And the player, too…. Hey, it was in the workshop, I accidentally rolled over it backing out! At least I'm honest… Listen, Kirere, I… I don't even talk to them. I haven't since I went to live with my grandma."

"Huh…?"

"My mom left, and my dad decided he didn't have time for a kid," Haruki shrugged. "….I came back after my grandma passed away, thinking we'd have a happy reunion, but… It didn't work out."

"I thought you came to Hawaii for a girl…"

"That, too… Listen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before that my family's the same family that's Honda's main competition, but I didn't think it was too important… I didn't mean you were an idiot for not figuring it out, it's just…" Haruki shrugged. "W-what… Wait, don't cry!"

"…That guy's making that lady cry, mom…." a young boy whispered as they passed.

"Urk!" Kirere dropped the hats she was selling and hugged onto Haruki tightly. "….Hehehe…. Okay, I'll buy you an ice cream if you promise to quit. I don't handle alien girls crying, muchless alien girls dressed up like human girls… Why's this getup have your one dad's symbol on it, anyway?"

"Because it's usually his…" she took a step back and wiped her eyes. Haruki was quiet for a time, and then sighed.

"…Why do I still let things surprise me? Come on, I think you other dad's competition is starting. I'm strangely compelled to watch…."

"Hey, Haruki… You dad isn't very nice, huh?" Kirere carried the box of hats as they walked down the sandy beach.

"…Not really…."

"Well, you can share mine, if you want…."

"…Ehhhhh I'm okay, thanks," Haruki answered with a laugh.

"All right… Fire!" Keroro called out, and Mahihi and Giroro both took shot at the targets. The audience was amazed at the skill the two showed; by the time they finished shooting in front of the makeshift range, the targets both had clean holes right through the heart.

"Heh, you're not bad, Aka Baka. Better than I thought. I might actually have to put in some effort here," Mahihi laughed as he eased his hold on the rifle.

Keroro continued with his announcement, now holding a microphone and hamming it up for the audience, "Ohhh looks like we have to get our judges here! Now we'll measure to see who had the cleaner shot…. It looks close, but…"

"It goes to Giroro-dono, Teicho-dono. By one 1/100th of a millimeter," Dororo called out after he finished measuring the sized holes.

"Eh?" Mahihi blinked, and Giroro gave a pleased grin. Keroro looked annoyed, and stood there beside Tamama.

"He could have fudged it…." Keroro muttered away from the microphone. "Dororo, whose side are you on?"

"The side of truth," Dororo answered with a nod, and Keroro's shoulders slumped.

"Moving on…." Keroro muttered flatly.

The next competition was a martial arts match between to two. Giroro was sure he had the upper hand in this competition as well until the bell sounded. Mahihi had the proud soldier knocked out cold on the ground within moments. After trying everything to wake him up, Mahihi had to take up giving Giroro CPR once yet again.

As they went on to reviving Giroro, a lone pale blonde man sat beneath a white plastic table, sipping a drink and relishing in the fact he was in full tourist regalia.

"…You haven't touched your drink…." he noted, and the drink fell onto the sand, as if by an invisible force. "….You're moody today…."

"I have a clear shot of them right now, I could take out whoever you wanted! As long as I get the one."

"Hrm. Well, I have the matter of a problem I have to take care of, if you remember… A little purple pitbull I have a score to settle with… That and the little demon-eyed brat you're after… Right now we have to sit back, and strategize… This is where you fail, you see…"

His companion gave a low growl at this point, and the human chuckled, and pushed up his sunglasses and spoke again, "Don't worry… I have a plan, we just have to keep following them…. We're going to hit them where it hurts the most with all of our manpower when the time's right."

"Hrmph… I still say you let me at the brat now. I can't think of a better time!"

"And I say we continue to watch," the human answered with a grin, and pushed up his sunglasses. "…You're probably just irritable because you've been cooped up for so many years. Come, now, I'll order you another drink."

The blonde's companion only grumbled in silently, and returned to quietly watching the group from afar.

"Seriously, stop passing out," Mahihi said after spitting out his mouthwash. Giroro took a swig from the same bottle and passed it back to Mahihi. They stood next to the other Keronians, save for Kirere, who was busy selling souvenirs with Haruki, and Romama, who no one had seen that morning.

Mahihi was about ready to take another swig, but only spat it out onto the sand. "….Daisy! Man am I in for it now."

"Heh, how sad, to live under the thumb of a Pekoponian woman…" Giroro snorted as Mahihi's wife approached the two, glaring daggers at them.

"You're really going to judge me on that…" Mahihi muttered, "H-Hey, dear! I was going to get to opening the shop… After this…."

"You have four kids at home, you don't need to be here goofing off here," Daisy folded her arms, and Mahihi took a step back, outwardly nervous by his wife's attitude.

"Gero gero gero… This is a matter of the wills of two great Keron warriors, simple Pekoponian civilian!" Keroro now stood in-between them grinning.

"Teicho-dono… You really shouldn't meddle in the affairs of couples…" Dororo warned. Keroro, however, ignored this, and continued.

"This was promised to be a multi-tournament event, we simply can't cancel it now for something as trivial as a small shop!" Keroro snorted, and laughed heartily. He then abruptly stopped as he noticed Daisy's look… It was so chilling, so familiar…. Just like… Natsumi-dono's glare…

Natsumi and Koyuki, who were quite a distance away from Keroro, noticed something suddenly flying across the cloudless sky… They could have sworn it was also giving a faint scream.

Giroro stood there in awe, then looked back at Daisy, who was dusting her hands on her dress, "You… You just…. That was astounding…"

"You see what I see in her finally," Mahihi grinned.

"Poor Gunso…." Tamama muttered; Keroro had been sent flying, splashing down a great ways away from the group.

"He'll wash up on shore," Giroro answered with a snort. "Mahihi… We're at a tie."

Mahihi nodded, "Daisy, this is kinda important… I promise I'll open up the shop an hour early tomorrow."

Daisy's frown gave way to a small grin, "Well, these people should bring some good business… I'll go open it up… You're on dishes tonight, too," she added as she walked away.

"….She's so pretty when she's bossing me around…" Mahihi said with a dreamy sigh that took the others aback. "She could order me around all day if she wanted."

"….I take it from that talk she doesn't know what you promised to do should you lose," Giroro added.

"Well, that's because I won't lose," Mahihi answered with a confident smile. "You wanna fast-forward this to the last event, Aka Baka? Before I get in more trouble?"

"D-Don't call me that!" Giroro snarled. "Fine! What is it?"

"Kukuku, surfing competition," Kururu read off. Surfing; it had nearly done him in last time, and the waves weren't looking friendly, Giroro noticed.

"All right," Giroro nodded. "Mahihi. Let's get this done with."

"…You sure you're up for—"

"Yes. Let's go," Giroro answered abruptly, and he took up his surfboard. After a moment's hesitation, Mahihi did the same.

"Ehhhhh…. What…. What'd I miss….?" Keroro practically drug himself back to the group, and he was now covered in seaweed, and a small crab had taken up residence atop his head.

Dororo then tilted his head up as he felt an oncoming breeze. He then left the group without another word, moving nimbly, even in his limiting Pekoponian suit.

Romama, too, felt something. He looked up at the clouds; it had been sunny moments before, but it looked as though now there was an oncoming storm. He stood up from the lonely rock he had been perched on a majority of the day, and looked down—There were two surfers, and now hopping on the patches of jagged rocks beside them a familiar blue Keronian.

The waves were getting even larger, Giroro noticed. He looked over his shoulder and saw a laugh group on the beach, among them Natsumi and Kirere…. Mahihi's family had also gathered on the beach….

He then turned his attention back to the waves, '….I can't lose against him again….'

He stood up on the board at he saw an approaching wave, Mahihi was already up on his surfboard. Giroro actually managed to stay up on the board this time, and was doing a fine job until he wiped out. Swimming to the surface after wiping out should have been easy for him, but he found himself being pulled by the forces of the water…

He'd been caught in a rip current.

"…I don't see either of them, Gunso-san…." Tamama muttered as they all stood on the beach, the winds now picking up a bit more.

"Eh? Well, Giroro Gocho may have fallen off of his surfboard again…" Keroro didn't seem confident in his own words.

"Those waves are strong," Daisy commented, and Haruki, who stood next to her, nodded. "…Thank goodness they're both used to this sort of thing, only an idiot would go out there if he didn't know how to surf."

Keroro's eyes went wide and worried at this. Kirere's eyes looked at him in great panic, and Natsumi, too, looked a bit worried outwardly.

Giroro finally managed to get a gasp of air as he pulled his head above water; his surfboard was violently bobbing along the waves, as was Mahihi's. Mahihi's was closer, and he grabbed onto this one in a vain attempt to stay afloat. He had been pulled out of his Pekoponian suit, which was probably the best thing that could have happened to him.

"M-Mahihi!" Giroro called out, now wondering as to wear the surfboard's owner had gone off to. He called out for Mahihi a few times, and then saw it, a hand coming up out of the water, and then disappearing back down into it.

Giroro climbed onto the surfboard and reached out for the hand, but found he alone wasn't enough to pull up Mahihi. He then felt hands grip around his waist.

"D-Dororo! Romama!"

Dororo was on the surfboard, holding onto Giroro, and Romama was behind both of them, clinging onto Dororo and forming a chain.

"On… Three!" Giroro grunted, and the two nodded. "One… Two…. UGH!"  
Mahihi was jerked out of the water and onto the board full-force by the three Keronians, and immediately began to cough up the sea water he had swallowed. He did this all while paddling out of the current.

"T-thanks, guys…. Guys….?" Mahihi took this opportunity to sit up; he'd landed on all three of the Keronians, and they now laid sprawled out and fainted on the board.

"Yo, mind if I join you?" Giroro was snapped out of his thoughts by Mahihi, who took a seat next to him on the porch of Mahihi's home, "They did a good job bandaging you up… Sorry again for that whole, um, squishing you thing…. I'm only glad it happened while I was on my diet. So I guess our contest was a draw, huh?"

Giroro grunted, "You would have won it, anyway."

"Nah, we don't know that… Too bad it got rained out, we could've settled it through a karaoke competition. Well, there is one way to settle this like men…"

"Rock, paper, scissors, go!" both muttered, Giroro choosing rock and Mahihi paper.

"…Guess I'm not joining you guys then. Hrm, you paused for a second there," Mahihi noted with a grin, and Giroro returned this with a small contented smile of his own.

"Well, you are a little old for this… And you do have other obligations already," Giroro answered, glancing back into the house. "M-Mahihi, if I could ask you… How you…."

"I was myself," Mahihi answered. "….For some reason, she liked me anyway."

Giroro gave a nod, and Mahihi stood, "Well, better go rally up the troops… You guys are getting ready to head out, right?"

"Yes… Some of us have duties to return to," Giroro nodded.

"Hehe, I hear that. I like you, Aka Baka. You oughta come back some time, I'll show you how to really fight," Mahihi grinned, and walked back into his house.

Mahihi walked up to his bedroom, and shut the door. "….Boss, I know you're there… You know how risky this is, right? ….You…. You really shouldn't go looking for anyone else. You might run into Rokiki, who probably still hates you. They seem like a good bunch of kids, Shosa. Don't drag them into your mess, or at least let them know what they're getting into, okay?"

Romama, who stood silent while listening to this, said nothing, but opened the door, and left the bedroom. Mahihi gave an exhausted sigh, and slumped down on his bed.

"So you didn't find Kodada, huh, Gunso?" Fuyuki looked out the plane window at the ever-disappearing Hawaiian islands.

"Ah, just as well, Fuyuki-dono. We made a good friend out of it!" Keroro sat back and folded his arms behind his head.

"And I'll bet a pretty sweet little paycheck, too, I bet," Haruki added happily, and Keroro flinched.

"Kukuku!" Kururu was more than happy to fill in the blanks. "Teicho held the event on a private beach… After he finished rental fees we're lucky if we have enough to pay the electric bill…"

"WHAT?!" Giroro snarled. "Keroro, you idiot!"

"It was all that demon Pekoponian Mahihi Chui calls his wife, she's worse than Natsumi-dono!" Keroro shot back.

"….What's that mean?" Natsumi asked darkly, and cracked her knuckles as she loomed over Keroro.

"Ge…. Gero…" Keroro squeaked.

"I'll get it!" Mahihi shouted as he heard the doorbell sound while the family sat at the dinner table. The Pekoponian-suited Keronian walked to the door, and was puzzled at first to see a blonde haired, blue-eyed man staring back at him.

"Good evening… My name is Nikolai Kezanstav… You might know my associate, Rokiki Tai (captain)."

"….Hon, I have to go out for a little bit. I have some friends to talk to."

"All right, hurry back," Daisy called out as Mahihi stepped out of the house.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"And then my heart goes boom, boom, boom…" Kirere sang as she continued to work on the mecha with Kururu. The yellow Keronian looked up from his side of the mecha's foot and gave a laugh.

"Neh. What's that you're singing? And so poorly, kukuku!" Kururu paused his work and Kirere unplugged one of the earbuds from her headphones, connecting it to Kururu's.

"It's Chu! She's great!" Kirere explained as Kururu listened.

"Kukuku! She sounds like she's singing in a tin can…" Kururu muttered, unplugging it and resuming his work. Kirere gave a frown and begrudgingly returned to her work as well.

"Hehe, looks like you've got a helper today, Kururu," Saburo laughed as he walked in on the two. "Hey, Kire-chan, why aren't you helping your human buddy today?"

"Saburo! Eh, Haruki? He's out of town dodging some bill collectors," Kirere explained cheerily.

"Kukuku, what wonderful company you keep…" Kururu laughed.

"What're you doing here so early?" Kirere set aside her wrench and walked over to Saburo, and he gave his trademark casual grin and laugh.

"Well, I'm going to a concert tonight, I wasn't sure if Kururu wanted to come or not," Saburo answered, removing a ticket from his jacket pocket and handing it for Kirere to inspect. "I don't know if you've heard of her… She's a Korean artist who just came out with her first Japanese album. She's going to be a big hit from what I understand…. She already does some commercials for candy."

Kirere gave a gasp, and bounced over to Kururu, "I'll give you what's in my hug jar if I can go, too! Pleaseeee can I go? Please, please, please?!"

"Eh?" Kururu looked over the ticket in her hand, "..What's it worth to you?"

"Kirere?!" Giroro slid into the work area, gun already drawn. "I thought I heard you scream!"

"I-I did, but…. Can I go to a concert?!" Kirere quickly got over the puzzlement of Giroro's quick presence and went into begging mode. "It's tonight!"

"Eh? What?" Giroro blinked, and now Kirere passed him the tickets. One night only, Chu in concert… The tickets were pink with pink and white hearts and stars. "K-Kirere, I'm not sure if this is—"

"Hey, I was going to ask Natsumi-san if she wanted to go, too. You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?" Saburo interjected, and Giroro paused a moment.

"…I'll go…" he sighed in defeat, shutting his eyes.

"Aya!"

"Y-yes, sorry!" Aya squeaked, and attempted the pirouette again. And yet again, she fell flat on the floor. "Owww…."

Romama shook his head as he watched the teacher storm over to Aya, looking incredibly annoyed with the girl, more so than usual.

"We're two months away from one of the biggest performances in the year, and you're still having trouble with the simplest things… I… I just don't know what to tell you, Aya," the teacher ended in a sigh, and shook her head. "You want parts in our programs, and yet you're surprised when you don't get any. It's because of performances like that."

"I'm trying, really… I…"

"Well, try to not try so much. Try to do," the teacher then clapped her hands together. "Class dismissed for today!"

Romama continued to eat the orange he held in his hand as the students shuffled out, then the teacher, leaving only Aya there to practice.

Romama stood, and looked in the mirror once, and gave an affirming nod; he was nearly ready to hop down and reveal himself to Aya when something stopped him—The radio he had on in the background, something was very familiar… He rushed over, and turned up the song.

That voice…

"And that was Chu, an up-and-coming artist who happens to be performing here tonight!" the announcer explained as the song ended. "She's going to be playing—"

Romama didn't stay to hear the rest, or to show himself to Aya. Rather he was quickly gone from the dance studio attic, headed to the one place he knew would help him.

"Ah, all in attendance, I now call this meeting dealing with Pekoponian invasion strategies to order!" Keroro chirped as he banged a gavel and then smiled out at the over-enthusiast or conversely tired and annoyed faces. "I like to call this operation invade Pekopon through the mislabeling of UPC codes! Tonight we put phase one into action, which involves us—Yes, Giroro Gocho?"

Giroro put down the hand he had raised, "I… I'm afraid I can't join you for this mission, Keroro…. I have other duties to attend to tonight."

"He's going to a concert!" Kirere chimed in, and Giroro outwardly flinched. "We're going to go see Chu!"

"That girl who sells those star and heart-shaped candies on TV?" Tamama wondered aloud, Giroro's face growing hot red as he felt the surprised stares upon him.

"Gero, well, I'm not one to get in the way of family activities… I suppose we could put off this strategy for another day," Keroro turned away from them with a grin on his face and his hands behind his back.

"Fool! You're just glad to have an excuse not to invade!" Giroro snapped. "We'll carry out the invasion plan in the morning, no later than that!"

"Unless you have some girl scout meeting to play den mother for, gero gero gero!" Keroro chuckled, and the shots began, all originating from Giroro's gun. Keroro gave an agonized yell as he flew in the explosions.  
He landed right on top of Romama, who remained there a moment on the ground, then after a few moments of quietly assessing the situation, stood, holding onto Keroro's head with a near deathgrip.

"Ojiisama, how, how nice of you to join us!" Keroro squeaked.

"Eh?" Dororo stood from his seat. "What's that, Romama-dono? You think that another one of you platoon is really that close?!"

"What'd he say, Dororo?" Giroro asked, glancing over to the ninja.

"Romama-dono says he might have found another of his platoon on his own, and she's in our presence," Dororo explained, and Kirere immediately began to look about, expecting the Keronian to hop out at any moment.

"Not that literally, kukuku!" Kururu laughed at Kirere's searching.

"Maybe she'll want to go to the concert, too, if we find her in time!" Kirere exclaimed with excitement.

"Giroro Goucho's going to go see a girly concert tonight," Keroro explained, still in Romama's grasp. Romama let go of Keroro, tossing him forward a bit, and Dororo continued.

"He promises his allegiance in the next invasion strategy if we help locate her," Dororo continued.

"Heh! He didn't help our last one, even if it was a foolish endeavor," Giroro snorted, folding his arms and turning away from Romama.

"He wants to remind you that he came out to save you and Mahihi-dono, Giroro-kun," said Dororo, and Giroro growled.

"Bastard's pulling that card? What a dirty game!" Giroro whispered to himself.

"How did you find out about her, anyway, Ojiisama?" asked Keroro.

"He heard her on the radio. He said her voice is unmistakable," Dororo explained. "And he says she's playing here tonight."

"That's got to be Chu, then!" Kirere gasped. "Cool! Romama-kun knows someone famous!"

"Kukuku, good, he can tell her himself that she's talentless," Kururu laughed.

"Are you for certain that it's her? Your pendant didn't go off again this time," Giroro said critically, but Romama nodded.

"Someone with as much power at this Chu person has must have influence with Pekoponians… If she truly is a Keronian she could tell us her secrets to wooing mass Pekopon audiences!" Keroro explained, followed by a hearty laugh. "This has worked out more perfectly than I could have anticipated, gero, gero, gero!"

"So does this mean I'm going too? Kukuku!" Kururu asked.

"Don't think I'm not watching you," Natsumi glared down at Keroro as they walked into the stadium, the Keronians wearing their invisibility shields. "You better not try anything funny, Stupid Frog!"

"Natsumi-dono, we're simply trying to get a better feel for Pekoponian culture by engaging in one of Pekopon's favorite pastimes, aside from baseball and building Gunpla!"

"I've never been to a concert this big before!" Koyuki gasped happily, leaning down a bit to talk to Natsumi.

"Hehe, I haven't either," Fuyuki answered, feeling a bit out of place among the throngs of girls. He was the only boy as far as he could see; even Saburo had bailed out last minute, having some emergency come up, something relating to work or a hobby or something…

"It's going to start soon!" Kirere gasped excitedly, smiling widely at Romama. "Do you think we could get her autograph?"

Romama paid no mind to her, he instead kept his sights on the stage in front of them. The lights went out, and then came on the stage lights, followed by backup dancers, and finally, the songstress herself.

Chu was tiny, with blue hair tied in two buns high atop either side of her head. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of orange, and the frilly skirt and top she wore were yellow and white. She had on pink choker on her neck, and on the side of the choker a pink and red star symbol. She showed a lot of energy as soon as she hopped out, and continued to sing a cheery song about spending the summer on the beach with friends, followed by one about a cute boy.

'I miss the day when the only songs were those of the battlefield…' Giroro thought to himself, feeling a bit sick at the overly-cute spectacle. He managed to block out a majority of the show, thinking back to his days as a great Keronian warrior, and before he knew it, Chu was walking off stage, signaling the end of the concert. Romama took this opportunity to bolt from his group and to the backstage.

"Wait, Ojiisama!" Keroro took off for Romama, and the others of the platoon soon afterward, leaving only the Pekoponians there in the crowd.

"Stupid Frog, where're you going!?" Natsumi shouted out, but this was drowned out by the cheering of the still excited audience.

"Ojiisama!" Keroro called out as they wandered behind stage now, being careful to avoid the Pekoponians rushing back and forth. Kirere was nearly trampled, but Dororo quickly reached over and pulled her away from the traffic of heavy boots.

"Are you all right, Kirere-dono?" he asked, and she only nodded, a bit flustered.

"Ojiisama!" Keroro called out in a sing-song tone, "Where are you?!"

"You really expect him to answer you," Giroro snorted. "Idiot…"

"Gunso-san, I found him!" Tamama called out, pointing to a dressing room door. "I saw him run in here!"

"Ah, perfect!" Keroro opened the dressing room door and pranced in without another thought. There came a high pitched scream, from a woman. Giroro, who was in the doorway, went deep crimson, and Keroro opened his eyes in surprise, and began to back out. Not soon enough, however. The hairbrush Chu sent flying hit him square in the middle of the face, and it left a red mark in the center of the sergeant's face.

"That'll teach you not to forget knocking, you creep!" Chu snapped. The cheery exterior was gone, and instead there stood a sour-faced yet gorgeous woman in a yellow bathrobe. She relaxed a bit and leaned back against the vanity, her features reverting to much more calm. "Really, Roma-kun, you should've told me you had friends coming… Still silent, eh?"

"He's always like that, he lost his voice," Tamama chimed in.

"Thank goodness for small miracles," Chu muttered, and watched as Kururu and Dororo now walked in, and she then disappeared behind a changing screen. Kirere took this opportunity to hop up on the vanity mirror, and began to look about at the various makeups with awe. She outscretched her hand to reach from some blush, but Giroro quickly caught wind of this.

"Don't even think about it," Giroro said sternly, and Kirere sighed and sat on the seat of the vanity in defeat.

"What was the big idea doing that!?" Keroro had regained himself, and shook a fist in anger, the hairbrush clutched in his other hand. He soon stopped, however, as she tossed her bathrobe out from behind the screen. An uneasy air filled the room, affecting all but Kirere, who only watched, puzzled, at the embarrassed looks.

"…No one's really been around a lot of girls, huh?" she concluded after a period of silence, and there was a collective flinch, except for Kururu, who merely gave a laugh.

"Well, that's no shocker," Chu snorted, now emerging from behind the screen. Keroro placed his hands over his eyes at first, but then, after hearing Chu give a small laugh, he peeked through his fingers, and then removed them, and studied the yellow female Keronian, whose color matched that of an egg yolk. Her eyes were almond-shaped, and bright orange, and her hat was sky blue, with ears sticking up and buns formed on either side. From the buns there hung orange ribbons, and there was a pink choker about her neck.

"You… You're a sergeant, too…" Keroro muttered, pointing at the star on the Keronian Chu's stomach. A red star, and within it a pink one.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

The Keronian then gave a half-hearted salute, and then yawned, "Well, I like to keep company, but not when I'm working, so if we could make this quick…"

"…She's so flippant…" Giroro muttered, noting the wave Chunini gave to the group, signaling she was done with them.

"You're so much happier-looking on stage…" Keroro added, crestfallen, his shoulders slumping. "What happens between there and here?"

"He… He says Chunini-dono's like this… Cute and unsuspecting on the outside, but with a heart that's devious," Dororo explained to the group.

"Oh, now, that's not very nice," Chunini said, mocking hurt as she took a step toward Romama and Dororo. "So what brings you here, disrupting the wonderful, otherwise excellent life I'm leading?... And how can I get you to go leave so it can get back to that?"

"Ah, a woman who gets to the point, admirable indeed!" Keroro chirped. "We were hoping that your public relation skills are just as good as your singing ability, Chunini-chan!"

"Kukuku, that wouldn't make her very useful, then…" Kururu chuckled quietly.

"We also want to know if you know where Kodada is!" Kirere chimed in.

"Kodada? Why would you—Ohhh I see," Chunini gave a long laugh, and shook her head. "You boys are all the same. Well, I don't know where she or Rokiki are, but I know where Lupapa and Fujuju are."

"Rokiki?" Keroro blinked.

"That's the first we've heard of a Rokiki," Giroro added.

Romama cringed a little bit as he suddenly felt eyes upon him, and he refused to make eye contact with any of those around him.

"You mean… He didn't…. Oh this is too GOOD! Let me get a drink, I suddenly think I need one…" she giggled and walked over to a mini fridge she had set up, and pulled out a bright orange soda from it.

"Ojisama? Who's Rokiki?" Keroro asked while Chunini got her drink.

"Chu? Are you decent?" a female voice and a knock on the door came, and all of the Keronians scrambled. Chunini only took a swig of her soda and headed for the door.

"This is the best I'm going to get after a concert," Chunini called out, and in bustled in a tiny woman, with dark hair, thick glasses, and dressed in a nondescript white shirt, black skirt, and black buttoned jacket.

"The newest figures came in from your DVD concert," the woman shut the door with her foot as continued to read off of a chart while Chunini took a seat at her vanity. "Looks as though we're slipping in sales."

"Kukuku, that's no surprise," came a voice from behind the screen, then came a growl, and the sound of a smack.

"Idiot! She'll hear you!"

"Do you have… Company?" asked the Pekoponian slowly.

"You remember the shrimp I told you about, my old Platoon leader?"

"Romama Shosa," the woman nodded.

Chunini took a sip of her drink and sank back in her chair, "Well, he showed up, and he's brought a whole bunch of friends… For some reason of another. Do you think we could get a masseuse in here later, Lee?"

"Gero?" Keroro popped his head out from underneath a pile of clothes and walked over to the two. "Chunini-chan, she knows that…?"

"Chu-san's an alien? Of course," Lee nodded. "As long as she can make sales, I'm all right with her being whatever she wants to be. Now what are your friends doing here, Chu?"

"They think I'm going to leave this tour to go on some kind of little adventure to find Romama-kun's little… Friend," Chunini stretched. "My do I have a crick in my neck!"

"I'll get right on that masseuse."

"Leave the sales figures on the vanity here, would you? Thanks, Lee," Chunini motioned, and Lee did so, leaving them be and shutting the door behind her.

"My manager," Chunini set down her soda on the vanity and picked up the chart. Romama took this opportunity to hop up onto the same chair and lift Chunini up by the shoulders, staring her down. The chart fell onto the ground, and Kururu lifted it up and began to study it, Kirere looking over his shoulder.

"He… Doesn't take kindly to your words, Chunini-dono…" Dororo explained. "Romama-dono, if I could interject, it's not polite to do that to a lady."

"I could wipe the floor with him, and then you'd be next!" Chunini snarled, causing the Keroro platoon, aside from Kururu, to jump back in fear.

"T-that isn't a woman," Giroro stuttered. "She's something completely different."

"I'm not part of that anymore, so you'll have to find someone else. I didn't like you then, I don't like you now, and I don't like any of your lackeys."

"My, they are dropping… This time next year you could be in the dollar bin with these figures. Kuuuukukuku!" came Kururu's laugh, and Chunini's expression shifted from anger to surprise, and she hopped out of Romama's grasp.

"W-what?! Where does it say that!?" she snapped, grabbing the chart from his hands. "H-how can that be? Even downloads are down… But I just played a sold out concert!"

"Kukuku!" Kururu's shoulders bounced as he gave another laugh.

Chunini was distraught. She continued to look over the chart as she took a seat on her couch, "…I need these figures back up…. I'm too pretty for local fair circuits!"

"Maybe if you came out with your own doll! I'd buy it!" Kirere chirped in.

"That'll solve it, why didn't I think of it before… Who's letting the little boy play with dolls?" Chunini deadpanned.

Tamama gave a giggle, and Kirere went pale. She then ran out of the room, crying.

"Wait! Kirere! You don't look like a boy!" Giroro shouted, running out after her.

"K-Kiere-chan's a girl, Chunini-chan," Keroro muttered flatly.

"What am I going to do!?" Chunini was back to worrying about the figures on her chart.

"Get a less generic sound would be a good start," Kururu suggested.

"Gen-generic!? I'm generic?!" Chunini's eyes grew wide and worried.

"Well, I haven't heard much, but it isn't much different from what I've heard before from other singers, come to think of it…" Keroro admitted, and Kururu gave another laugh. "If she has falling sales like this, she might not have the secret to success after all…"

"I'm not a has-been!" Chunini shouted, her mood shifting yet again.

"She's become even more vain since I last left her…" Dororo sighed, voicing for Romama.

"Kuku, there are a few things you could do to take care of that…" Kururu turned his back to Chunini, "Being a former pop idol myself."

"W-what, you?!" Chunini pointed to Kururu shakily, and he only turned around and gave a large grin.

"It's scary, but true, Chunini-chan," Keroro answered with a nod. "When Kururu Socho puts effort into something, he's usually successful. The only reason he didn't become more successful is he walked away from it."

"Except with our supersoldier," Tamama muttered in an aside.

"So… How would you get these figures up… Kuru-kun?" Chunini finished, scooting up beside Kururu with the chart in hand.

"Kukuku! You're not my type," Kururu answered.

"You have a type?" Tamama and Keroro wondered aloud in unison.

"Tch," Kururu began. "If you really want to increase sales figures, the secret is to—"

"Yes, yes? What is it?"

"Help us find Kodada-san for Ojiisama! And then you have the Keroro Platoon's promise that you'll know all the secrets to increasing sales!" Keroro answered, hopping in front of Chunini with his eyes closed smugly. When he opened them, he came to a start, and backed away a step. "Such a scary look… What a true diva…"

Indeed Chunini did look terrifying, although after a moment her looks relaxed, and she turned away, flipping the ribbons on her head covering, "Fine. I don't know where Kodada is, but I know where Lupapa and Fujuju are living, I can take you to one of them. But I'm not doing this out of charity, charity I reserve for publicity events. I'll get Lee to schedule a plane for Brazil."

"Brazil!?" Dororo, Tamama, and Keroro shouted aloud. Romama, too, looked surprised at this.

"That's where Lupapa's living… And the plane's for me, you commoners find your own transportation. Now if you don't mind, I'm tired, so… See yourselves out…"

"…Right then…" Keroro answered, his shoulders slumped. "Even my conscience is warning me against her… When my conscience is warning, that's a sign of big trouble."

"She's so cold! I looked in her eyes and saw nothing!" Tamama added gravely as they left the dressing room. "It was like a void of wickedness!"

"What role did she play in your platoon exactly, Ojiisama?" Keroro ventured to ask Romama, who looked more stern than usual.

"She was our best combat warrior…" Dororo explained. "A hand-to-hand and energy combat expert. Her powers are all in her voice… And it's not wise to get on her bad side, Romama-dono says."

"T-that was her good side?! Her temper, it reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it…"

"Stupid Frog!" Natsumi growled. "Kirere's crying and I know you had something to do with it!"

"Ah, that's where! Natsumi-dono! N-NATSUMI DONO?!" Keroro yelped as Natsumi lifted him up by the head and stared him down. Most of the crowd was gone, except for the Keronians' Pekoponian friends and Lee, who was on a cell phone, working out deals even as she stood here. "I had no part in Kirere-chan's tears!"

"Gunso-san really didn't, Na-chii! It was Chunini-chan saying Kii-chi looked like a boy!" Tamama answered frantically as Keroro wriggled in Natsumi's grasp. Natsumi dropped Keroro to the ground like she was dropping a basketball, and the sergeant balled his fists and hopped back up.

"Just because someone's crying doesn't make it my fault!" Keroro snapped.

"Where is Kirere-dono, Natsumi-dono?" Dororo asked.

"She left with Giroro," Natsumi folded her arms and leered down at the Keronians. "You all better not be planning anything evil…"

"Us? Evil? Why, Natsumi-dono, first you accuse me of making a child cry, now you accuse me of plotting a clever yet devious scheme? For shame you'd think so low of me!"

"I don't put anything past you," Natsumi muttered, and turned away from them. "We're going home now!"

"She'll rue the day she ever crossed us, now that I have family on my side," Keroro grinned evilly, and folded his hands.

"Stupid Frog, it's your day for dishes, and they're still not done!" Natsumi called out the following day after she returned home from school.

"Nee-chan, it looks like Gunso hasn't done any of his chores…" Fuyuki said as he looked about the house after he removed his shoes.

There then came a knock on the door, and Natsumi heaved a sigh, "He probably locked himself out of the house taking out trash, and—You?"

"Suzuyama-san?" Fuyuki wondered aloud as Haruki stood there, still in his work uniform.

"You guys haven't seen Kirere around, have you? We were supposed to go down to a neighboring junkyard, but she never showed up. Just sent me a note saying she was going to Brazil."

"Brazil?!" both Hinata children gasped, and Haruki looked at Fuyuki, then Natsumi.

"Eh….? Wait, she's really in Brazil?! That wasn't a joke?!" Haruki yelped.

"So that's where Stupid Frog went!" Natsumi clenched her fist. "He left for another continent so I won't be able to follow him and stop whatever he's working on! Fuyuki, this could be trouble."

"Nee-chan, I don't think something that sneaky is Gunso's style…"

"I wouldn't put anything past him!" Natsumi answered. "And I'm here…. If there was only some way that—Eh?"

"Woah!" Haruki crouched down as there was a heavy gust of wind, and a helicopter touched down moments later, and out hopped Momoka Nishizawa.  
"I haven't seen Tama-chan anywhere today! He wasn't even at breakfast!"

"That's because he and everyone went off to Brazil, Nishizawa-san," Fuyuki explained. "And Nee-chan's a little upset that she can't see what Gunso's up to."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Momoka smiled brightly. "We can take one of my private jets if you wanted."

"Good thinking, I can stay and guard the fort while you're gone," Haruki nodded.

"No way, you're coming too, bill dodger!" Natsumi answered sternly.

"What?! I've got a junkyard to run!"

"Someone needs to keep an eye on you, too," Natsumi answered, glaring at Haruki. "I don't want my mother here alone with you around!"

"Listen, I'm not going to be bossed around by some kid!" Haruki snapped. He attempted to return the glare with Natsumi, but only sighed in defeat a moment later. "…I'll go pack my bags… I need to find friends who aren't crazy, aliens, or kids!"

"…Why's Ojiisan have a water bottle attached to his head?" Kirere asked Giroro as the Keroro Platoon and two members of the Romama Platoon sat in a long, white boat in the middle of a long, deep river known as the Amazon, in the middle of the rainforest of the same name.

"It's to make sure he doesn't turn into the Keroro from "back then"," Giroro answered as he continued to paddle down the river. "The humidity here would be too much for him.

"Yes, who knows what damage he could inflict upon the fragile ecosystem here," Dororo nodded sagely as he, too paddled along. Kirere looked back at Keroro worriedly; the sergeant looked like a vegetable, staring blankly with a hollow look upon his face. Chunini sat in the back of the pontoon boat, holding onto a blue parasol and looking out through a pair of sunglasses as they journeyed down the river.

"I don't think it's much further now!" Chunini called out, and Giroro gnashed his teeth together.

"Giroro-dono, are you all right?" Dororo asked.

"Just thinking of reasons not to throw her overboard," Giroro answered.

"Oh, Kirere-chan, come here!" Chunini waved to the young girl, and Kirere stopped paddling, and glanced at Chunini. "I won't bite. Come on, sit down. Good girl. I think we got off onto the wrong foot."

"You thought I was a boy," Kirere said gravely.

"That too," Chunini answered flippantly. "Anyway, I was thinking maybe to make it up to you I could give you a little sisterly advice, seeing as how you don't really seem to have a strong female role model around here."

"Well, I have Natsumi-san and Mama-san back home," Kirere answered. "They're Pekoponian, but I'm more Pekoponian than human anyway!"

"That's adorable," Chunini answered with a smug grin, and leaned forward a bit. "You know, you remind me a little bit of my younger sister, the more I look at you…"

"Your younger sister? I want one of those! What was her name?!" Kirere asked excitedly.

"Well, it's—"

Romama stopped rowing abruptly, bringing all, including Chunini, to a halt.

"What? What's the matter?" Giroro asked, looking back at Romama. He was not the only one who gave a yell of surprise moments later when an arrow shot out at them, landing just inches from Keroro's feet.

"Ehhh? Pretty…" muttered the braindead sergeant.

"Gunso-san!" Tamama gasped, and dropped his oar. Then there came another arrow, but this time Dororo held up his oar, and it landed in the paddle, instead of Romama's head, where it had been headed.

"Looks like things are getting serious now," Chunini sighed and folded her parasol, then stood. She pressed on the charm on her choker, and out came a pair of pink angel pack wings.

"Someone get him to safety!" Giroro called out, motioning to Keroro. Romama nodded and took up his oar once more, and Tamama did the same.

"I'll see what's causing this, Giroro-dono. Stay and take care of everyone!" Dororo called out, hopping off of the boat and onto the land while Chunini floated up to get a better look from the sky.

Dororo unsheathed his sword just in time, and managed to split straight through another arrow that flew his way. He continued to follow the trail, although it seemed the farther her went, the farther the archer went. Then the arrows stopped, and Dororo was left in the loud silence of the rainforest, only the chirping of insects and birds around him.

"Assassin magic!" he called out, and then he looked about, having a better view of the forest and everything moving in it at this point. He was able to see the creature coming at him with a long pole just moments before it would have impacted with his skull, and he rolled out of the way, keeping his sword out and using the sheath as a guard.

"A Keronian woman?!" Dororo gasped to himself as the purple female Keronian stared him down from the other side of the pole, her green eyes letting him know that she was far from happy to see him.


	9. Chapter 9

She gave a growl in return, and swung at him; the Dororo managed to dodge up into the trees, and disappeared. She swiveled her head about, looking about for the ninja's whereabouts, and ducked just as he came down, rolling and a few yards away from where Dororo stood.

"We mean you no harm, Lupapa-dono!" Dororo called out just as she went to strike with her staff, and her tense expression lessened, molding into one much more bewildered than anything else.

"How do you know my name?" she stood upright, with her staff at her side. Dororo let out a breath of relief and he also relaxed and sheathed his sword.

"From a few good friends of yours," Dororo answered, and just then out of the brush came the rest of the group, including Keroro, who was being carried piggyback style by a grumbling Giroro.

"Wow!" Chunini snorted and laughed as she looked about. "Our little former felon has made quite the life for herself!"

"What's the meaning of your coming here, you—Romama Shosa, you're alive as well?"

Romama nodded, and stepped forward, and Chunini gave another chuckle.

"We're one grumpy soldier, brat kid, lunatic, and angry ex of yours away from a reunion now… How wonderful," Chunini laughed.

"….We aren't safe here," Lupapa announced at the sound of a jeep in the distance. "Come on, step on it!" she hopped up and disappeared into the brush, and Romama followed.

"You've got to be joking," Giroro looked up at the tall tree and gave a sigh of defeat.

"You have fun with him, I'll send out a search party if it gets too late and we still can't find your bodies!" Chunini said cheerily as she clicked on the charm from her choker collar twice, and from it came an angel pack that formed on her back.

"Where do you think they went off to?" Kirere asked after a moment of silence that was filled only with the jungle noises around them. There was a screeching noise, like that of a bird, and she flinched at the shrillness.

"I can sense them, come on, it's not too far now," Dororo reassured her, patting her shoulder and then taking off.

"I hope we're home in time for that cooking show I want to watch, at least… This traveling's starting to cut into my TV and junkfood dedication time!" Tamama kicked at some loose brush and then they took off, meeting up with Romama halfway and then being led by the boy major to Lupapa's home, which Giroro gave a balk as he saw exactly how high up it was in the trees.

"Kirere-chan, here, I'll help you up it," Dororo suggested.

"Oh? Um… All right," she nodded, and allowed the blue ninja to take her into his arms and then jump up into the treetops. Tamama focused his energy and was soon climbing up with only use of his bare hands, and Giroro gave a snort as he looked to Kururu.

"Looks like you'll actually have to work or you're going to end up food for a Pekoponian carnivore," Giroro said with some satisfaction, and Kururu gave a laugh and pulled out his remote, as well as a pair of shoes, as if from dead space.

"Kukuku! Levitation shoes. They're not my color, but they'll do," Kururu slipped them on, and with one press of the button he was floating up to the treetop.

"You bastard," Giroro seethed as he was stuck on the ground with Keroro still on his back.

"No, thank you, no more tea for me…" Keroro laughed weakly, then proceeded to fall back into his stupor.

"I didn't sign up for this," Giroro grumbled as he dug his bowie knife into the tree and began to scale it.

Meanwhile up a distance, still right below the thick leaves of the trees, Lupapa had gone to tending a small stove she had set up. Her home was large, flat, and only partially covered by a tarp in one area, which served as her bed. The rest of the home was made up of old boxes, which served as furniture, and barrels, which served for food and weapon storage. There was a broken mirror and water basin attached to one tree, as well as several heavy hemp ropes crisscrossing about the trees. There were several smaller platforms as well, that could easily be jumped down onto.

The Keronian herself was a full-grown female, with a dark gray cat-eared hat that had her symbol in the center of it, a blue circle that looked like a Japanese yen coin. On either side of the hat hung an emerald bead as well as a gold tassel, and she also wore two thick golden bracelets with flat jade emerald stones on either of them. Her skin color was that of purple violets, and her eyes about as green as the tree canopy above all of them, one being slightly lighter than the other. They were small eyes, like Chunini's, but narrower, that matched a serious face. On her stomach was a blue yen sign.

Lupapa took a seat on the floor and looked about at the crowd, which including a still amused Chunini.

"You're in the depths of poverty, I love it!" Chunini laughed.

"I'm not poor! I chose this life, instead the decadent one of a spoiled, softened brat!" Lupapa snarled in return, and noted Kirere hopping about and looking about the flat.

"Don't break anything!" Lupapa called out in such a tone that Kirere was taken aback, as was Romama, whose yellow eyes opened a bit. "What are you all doing here? Shosa, who are these people?"

"We're his nephew's platoon, Lupapa—"

"Gocho," she finished for Dororo. "Who are you, his representative?"

"Romama-kun lost his voice, isn't that great?!" Chunini said, clapping her hands together once cheerfully. "His nephew's a bigger idiot than he is, they're not a threat, don't worry."

"Why do you take that?" Tamama wondered aloud to Romama. Romama only looked across to Kururu, who gave a laugh. "Yeah, you have a point," Tamama muttered.

"They're looking for Kodada," added Chunini, and Lupapa looked a bit puzzled at this.

"She's your sister, why wouldn't you know?"

"Your sister?!" all gasped, and Chunini gave a shrug.

"Now you know why he puts up with me… My little sister was on the same platoon as me, it's true. She was a pilot, though," Chunini answered. "And she dated this little creep, that's also true."

"So that's why you don't like him!" Tamama snapped his fingers.

"No, I don't like him because I don't like him. And Lupapa-san's got her own reasons, too," Chunini added with a knowing grin. Lupapa gave a growl at this.

"You speak anymore and I'll feed you to the buzzards!" Lupapa snarled.

"Well, I was just—" Lupapa didn't allow Chunini to say anything else; she only lunged for the sergeant, and a fight among the two started up, with both rolling on the floor, pulling at one another's ears, and whatnot. Giroro, exhausted, had finally made it up with Keroro onto the platform when he was knocked down from his shaky footing by the cat fight going on.

When they were finally separated, Lupapa grunted and retreated to a lower platform to tend to her wounds.

"I should've gone with the left hook," Chunini muttered as she bandaged her hand. "Or used something more powerful on her, she's lucky she's faster!"

Lupapa, meanwhile, continued to work on her own bandaging, and stopped as she became aware of a pair of eyes behind her, "It's rude to sneak up on my blind side."

"I wasn't aware you had one, Lupapa Gocho, from the way you fight," Dororo held out a small bag to her. "This should help heal the wound inflicted on your shoulder. It's from where I reside on Pekopon."

Lupapa hesitated for a moment, then took the bag and opened it up, "Thank you, I'll put it to use…. What's wrong now?"

"Those vines… They grow so far from the ground, yet they're still growing, and they don't look like they'll ever stop!" Dororo exclaimed. "There aren't trees this tall anywhere on Keron, and I didn't know such a thing existed on Pekopon until this instance!"

"You like to talk a lot about nothing," Dororo flinched at Lupapa's biting words.

"N-not really, I'm just impressed by your home, Lupapa Gocho!" he answered sheepishly.

"It is beautiful, and I must keep it this way, I made a promise to the Pekoponians who helped me."

"You… You're a friend of the earth, as well?!" Dororo asked, stunned.

"Not at first… I hated this place, and barely survived on my own… It was only with the kindness of a group of Pekoponians I managed to live at all. Now I protect them, to make good on my promise."

"So your village is still intact… I'm sad to say it isn't the same with mine…."

"…I'm sorry to hear that," she looked away from him, and there was a period of silence.

"…It's all right. I must preserve what's left on Pekopon. I'm just a bit to relieved to know that I'm not the only one fighting for such a cause!"

"Yeah, me too," she flexed her left arm and stood. "I suppose owe you some thanks for sparing my life, so I'll cooperate as far as letting you stay the night, and providing any information to finding Kodada, although it isn't much."

"That's the most we've gotten so far," Dororo answered. "Is something the matter?"

"There's a tear on the side of your helmet," she took hold of one of the sides and looked it over for a moment, then gave a start as she realized the invasion of personal space she'd committed. Lupapa scrambled for her sewing kit, which she produced and offered to Dororo with lightning reflexes.

"H-here, since it was my fault for that," she answered, looking offward with a frown.

"It's greatly appreciated, Lupapa Gocho," Dororo took this, and hopped back up onto the main platform. Lupapa's shoulders slumped, but just as quickly tensed back up as she heard a familiar laugh.

"You seem to be getting along better with these new Keronians than me, Lupa-chan!" Chunini laughed.

"Bitch!" Lupapa yelled, and flung her first aide kit at Chunini. Instead, it bounced off of Keroro's head, but the sergeant gave little more than a grunt to this.

"You two really don't like one another, it looks like!" Tamama noted, and Romama's body language showed a laugh.

"They've always been like this," Dororo explained for Romama as he went to sewing up one of the fabric sides of his helmet. "Just like children, or—"

"Kukuku!"

"Yes, that," Dororo added with a sigh.

"Hrm? Hey, where's that little pink tomboy who's always following you all around? I haven't heard anything breaking in minutes," Chunini looked about, and the others did as well, only noticing now that Kirere was nowhere about.

"Afro Gunso… Gunso's got the afro…" Kirere sang to herself as she, too, was on one of the lowered platforms, and she picked another flower, a good-sized white one that grew from the side of one of the trees. "Yeah, he'll love these! I wonder why it's usually the girls who get flowers, though… Ahh… ACHOO!" she sniffed and then grumbled. "They just make me sneeze…"

"Eh?" Lupapa perked up first by the sound of a sneeze, then she continued to listen, hearing a buzzing sound in the distance. "They started early… Damn it!" she hopped up onto the main platform and made a dash for her weapons, gathering up her bow and arrows and her long staff, as well as a leather backpack.

"W-where are you going?" Giroro asked as he stood up, and Lupapa rushed past him.

"Illegal loggers… They've been harming the jungle and terrorizing my village," Lupapa answered bluntly.

"Let me accompany you, Lupapa Gocho," Dororo stood, having finished his sewing. Kirere was back on the platform just in time to watch this.

"Really?" Lupapa blinked.

"Kukuku, that's getting a bit off-track, don't you think?" Kururu chuckled.

"We won't be long," Lupapa reassured them as she jumped out and grabbed onto one of the vines, and slid down.

"I'll return shortly—Oh, those are very pretty, Kirere-chan!" Dororo smiled as he passed the girl, stopping briefly at her to look at the flowers she'd picked. "It's wonderful you're getting an interest in plant life!" with that, he was gone, and Kirere frowned; the point had been totally missed.

"That's odd, don't you think, Roma-kun?" Chunini admitted. "The only other person she'd let work with her on something like that was—"

Romama nodded, and Giroro chimed in, "It seems she likes him the most out of any of us… At least he's the one of us she hates the least. I'll be glad when she's on our side… Dororo's the best fighter out of any of us, and they appeared about even in skills."

"Oh, I don't think that'll take a lot," Chunini chuckled.

"Heh, well, they both seem zealous with similar—OW! Kirere!" Giroro snapped at the young girl, having been hit on the back of the head with the very bouquet she'd picked. She then threw it down and stormed away, leaving the others silent. Romama looked over to Tamama, bewildered, and Tamama sniffed the air.

"Ah, I know that smell! Jealousy… It smells even better than fresh cinnamon buns!" Tamama answered with a serene grin.

"J-jealousy?" Giroro blinked. "Damn it, I forgot all about that…"

"Kuku, she's feeling threatened for silly reasons," Kururu laughed, and stood.

"Wh-where're you going?" Giroro asked, turning toward Kururu. Kururu looked back at Giroro and laughed.

"She's mine, too, I can talk to her…."

"Y-you!?" Giroro choked. "You better not say anything cruel to her, Kururu, or so help me—"

"Kuku, so little faith…" Kururu then hopped down onto one of the platforms, and was gone. Giroro, naturally, scooted over to listen better.

"I made you so I would have someone else intelligent around for a change, instead of these emotional idiots, and you act like this?" Kururu took a seat on the platform beside Kirere, who had her knees up at her chin and was staring straight ahead. "…You'd be even more foolish to try to run away again."

"I'm not," she snapped. "You don't understand, you don't like anything, so how could you?! You don't like them, or any Pekoponians, or even me! You didn't make me because you wanted me, just… So you'd have someone to help you out around the lab, and as a tool!"

"Kuku…. You're smarter than you think. But you're wrong about a lot of that," Kururu answered. "And you're too smart for someone who would never see how much potential there is."  
"Huh?"

Giroro would have continued listening, but a sudden panic broke out behind him, and he turned around to see all that was keeping Keroro from turning into the Keroro from before had broken off, and the sergeant was now pumped, and ready to fight.

"Who dares go against me!?" Keroro cried out, followed by a maniacal laugh. Giroro gave a sigh and slunk away from the two while the rest of the group began to run after Keroro, who had challenged Romama. Keroro hopped off of the platform and down into the green and black jungle, with the others following. This only left Chunini on the platform, who after a moment, allowed her smug smile to fall, and she rubbed her forehead.

"I know you're out there," she spoke into the jungle sounds. "And… They're annoying, but if you have any humanity left in you, Rokiki, you won't go through with this… And if you are, don't harm this idiot platoon, they haven't done anything to you, all right? Just do what you want to us… But leave them alone. They're not your fight."

Meanwhile, while Keroro was laughing and hopping through the forest, and the others were spread out in the jungle, Natsumi, Fuyuki, Mois, and Momoka were all finished packing and were on their way out the door. They were about to head to the airport when there came a frantic knocking.

"It better not be that Haruki," Natsumi muttered, and opened the door wide. "Huh?"  
"Who is it, Nee-chan? Mahihi's wife?" Fuyuki blinked as indeed there stood Daisy, in the front doorway of the home.

"Come in, what's going on? Where are your children, and Mahihi?" Natsumi wondered as Daisy stepped in.

"They're with my family," she answered. "Mahihi's missing… All that he left was your address… I… I think he's in trouble. He's never done this to me before."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

"Hurry up!" one of the loggers shouted. "Come on! We're losing light here!"

"We already have lights out for the night, why's he so concerned about how fast we're going? Is he thinking that village is going to come after us? They don't have anything to fight with!" whispered one of the workers to another as they stood amongst the sawing and the buzzing of the machines around them.

"He's just superstitious," answered the other one. "They say there's some kind of spirit around here that keeps this part of the forest safe. Why do you think we're doing this at such a weird hour? If the wood wasn't so valuable we wouldn't come through here at all anymore!"

"Heh, yeah, I'd like to see that for myself… Probably just a large bird…." he took up his chainsaw, and had barely graced the tree with the teeth of it when he heard a series of yells behind him. He then stood there, stunned, as there was a white flash, and his chainsaw immediately stopped. He then dropped back and gasped in horror as it slid in half, a clean cut.

The worker then looked about, and saw numerous arrows in the now non-functioning machines around him, as well as the other workers, who were running into the darkness of the forest.

He joined them soon after in their terror and their retreat.

"Hrm, they were faster than the last group," Lupapa hopped down onto the ground and Dororo hopped down next to her. There were only the tools and a bit of garbage left as remnants of the loggers.

"Do they come here often?" Dororo asked, and Lupapa gave a firm nod.

"Not as much, but they still try… And I still hold them back… Eh?" she jerked her head over to a hurried noise, what sounded like a mixture of panting, running, and the crunching of leaves. Lupapa held up her staff and stood stanced next to Dororo, who had his sword drawn, but her serious expression quickly faded into an eye roll as the Pekoponian boy rushed out.

He was dark-skinned with shaggy black hair, and not much older than nine or ten. He wore a pair of flip-flops, as well as a striped blue T-shirt and khaki shorts. In his hands was a staff of his own, decorated to look much like Lupapa's.

"Does your mother know you're here?!" she immediately started with, relaxing her grip on her weapon and sighing. "It's late, Marco, and you should be in bed!"

"It's not, and I want to help you! And—Who's this?" the young boy now noticed Dororo, who silently surveyed this exchange between the two. Lupapa grunted and went to work scavenging through the tools, picking up whatever parts she deemed as useable, and tossing these into her backpack.

"He's an alien, like me…" she answered, her back turned to both of them.

"Oh! You got a boyfriend!" he laughed, and Lupapa slipped from the tall yellow machine she'd been scaling, shaken.

"N-no, it's not like that!" Dororo held up his hands and laughed. Marco bent down and examined him.

"You only have half a face," he muttered poking the ninja in the shoulder with one finger, "Hehe, you're just as squishy as Auntie!" Lupapa sighed.

"Marco, don't be rude, he's helped us out just now," Lupapa removed the backpack from her shoulders and passed it up to him. "Those are some good parts, they won't help out the village much, but… Whatever I can do to help out."

"Are you sure that's ethical?" Dororo wondered aloud, and Lupapa snorted.

"With what's been done to them it's more than fair," she answered coldly.

"I… I'm sorry, I wasn't aware."

"…It's all right," her expression softened, and she folded her arms. "We should make a stop by the village before heading back to your friends."

"So you can introduce them to your boyfriend and see if they approve," Marco nodded.

"He's not my boyfriend!" she reiterated, her face at this point starting to redden.

"Good, because he'd have to get through me, first!"

"You wouldn't be much of a challenge," Lupapa grumbled.

"Well, if you're nice at all, this means I can have an uncle!" Lupapa, normally graceful, fell to the ground at this.

"Lupapa Gocho, are you—"

"I'm fine," she grunted, standing and dusting herself off. "Family's just annoying sometimes."

"Family?" Dororo asked aloud.

"Come on, creepy eyes, you know you can do better!" Keroro laughed heartily in the woods; Giroro looked up with worry as a storm began to sound above them… That was never a good sign in Keroro's condition. He'd managed to avoid him and Tamama, as well as Romama, who was growing increasingly frustrated by this.

"He's impossible in his state!" Giroro grumbled, and hopped from one close by tree branch to another, following the sergeant's sounds. "At this point I think a nyororo would be a godsend."

Romama and Tamama, meanwhile, were neck and neck, Tamama a bit concerned by the look on Romama's face. It was… Determined… Not much unlike Keroro when he was the Sergeant from That Time.

Keroro finally stopped and stood on one tree branch, sweating but not fatigued-looking in the least.

"Come on, Ojiisama! Let's have a battle of the ages!" Keroro called out to his uncle. From Romama's face, and the catlike jump that followed, it was clear to Tamama that the Major had accepted the challenge.

"Gunso-san, I don't think that that's really—"

"Nitohei, I didn't get to be platoon leader by my awesome gift for words alone! I have fighting prowess, as well!" Keroro clenched his fists, and glared across to Romama. "Come on, Ojiisama, I'll even let you-"

Romama didn't have to be told. One strike with his wooden sword, and Keroro went flying, looking like a shooting star in the Brazilian sky.

"…Home run…" Tamama gulped.

"You need my help tracking down your friend, who landed somewhere in the jungle?" Chunini looked up from her magazine, which she had made the front cover of as Chu, and looked across at Giroro, Romama, and Tamama. At this same time, Kururu stood up and walked over with Kirere, who was still sniffling, but otherwise smiling.

"All right?" Giroro heard the scientist ask, and Kirere nodded in agreement.

"Well, I suppose I could offer a little assistance," Chunini set aside her magazine and stretched. "I'll help you find him, but just until I start to feel tired."

She walked to the edge of the platform and then hopped off, going to press her choker. It was her horror to find it was gone when she went to press it.

She gave a groan, and cursed Lupapa's name as she hit the forest floor.

"Am… I the only one who's happy to see that happen?" Giroro asked after a pause.

"No," answered Tamama, Kururu, and Kirere. Even Romama gave what looked like a chuckle.

Lupapa tossed the choker up and down in her hand and hummed on her way back to the village. When Marco asked what she was holding, she quickly hid it and dismissed him.

When they came to the village, Dororo found it was indeed small, and right on the water. There were a good three or more dozen wooden huts on stilts, as well as canoes resting in the nearby river. There weren't many people up, but the ones who were looked out at the sight curiously, but silently. A woman Dororo determined to be Marco's mother rushed out from one of the home, and immediately took him by the arm and inside to the home she had emerged from.

"Also my niece," Lupapa gave a small smile and took a seat in front of the fire. Dororo joined after a moment, and looked over to her, as if waiting for the rest of the story. "Their family adopted me when I first woke up, and they made me part of the family."

"That's wonderful!" Dororo smiled through his mask. "Sort of like Koyuki-dono and myself!"

"Koyuki?" Lupapa sat upright a little bit.

Dororo nodded, "She's my friend, and another protector of the Earth. She and her village taught me many of the ways I have now, not just those of an assassin."

"Assassin… I remember those well…"

"Oh? Were you that in the Keron army?"

"No, they're the reason I'm half-blind," she answered, and Dororo went cold. "I wasn't lying about a blind spot, I have a large one on my right side, where the eye doesn't see anything…. I ended up having two sent after me after I stole something important from the Keronian government… Then I was caught, and told to join the military, or face a worse option. Lupapa the thief, made into a puppet."

Dororo for the first time noticed how much more muted-colored her right eye really was, "And… You're still able to fight quite well. That's impressive, Lupapa-dono."

She looked over the slightly less formal term and there was a moment or two of silence between them, "With your abilities, there's probably a lot you've overcome as well. Eh?"

"GEROOOO!" Romama's major league-worthy pitch landed at about this time, hurling into the village and then onto one unsuspecting Keronian.

"Keroro-kun!" Dororo bolted up and yelped, rushing over to both Keroro and Lupapa. Lupapa growled and pushed off Keroro and then stood, looking down at him in contempt.

"This idiot's your leader!?" she snapped in such a voice several of the babies in the village began to wail.

"There he is! Gunso-san! Gunso-san!" Tamama emerged first, followed by Kirere and Romama, then Giroro, who was now carrying a dazed Chunini piggyback, and then finally Kururu.

"This ought to keep your friend calm," the old woman announced with a smile as she placed a few leaves into Keroro's mouth and made him chew them gently.

The sergeant came to after a moment, and groaned, then sat up in the hut and looked about. "It's morning? Wait, where am I?"

"Giroro! Your idiot's awake!" Lupapa shouted from the hut doorway. Keroro was laid out on a mat, as was Chunini, who had, for the last few hours, still been cursing Lupapa's name in her sleep.  
"Why does he have to be my idiot!?" Giroro shouted back from outside.

Giroro headed over to check his burden out while Dororo watched the children play a soccer match outside. Tamama was teaching them a few good moves, while Romama proved not a bad player either after being instructed.

Kirere took a breather after getting hit with the ball for the fifth time, and sat down next to Dororo. It was morning now, and none of them had gotten much sleep. It was starting to show on Kirere as she nodded off sitting there, all through Dororo's talking about the beauties of the rainforest.

He only realized she'd fallen asleep when she leaned against him, and began to snore softly, making a small "ki,ki,ki" noise as she snored. He sighed in resignation, lifted her up, and walked her into the hut.

"Did she finally get knocked out playing?" Giroro asked.

"No, I think it's just the mission is getting to her," Dororo laid her down next to Chunini, and Keroro gave a yawn.

"I wish she could have had the same sleep as me! I haven't had one that great in years!" Keroro announced contently.

"I'm glad someone did!" Giroro snapped from his corner.

"Ah, Gocho, you're just mad because you've gone days without seeing Natsumi-dono is all!" Keroro replied, and Giroro went red in the face at this, but said nothing.

"See, Mama, that's him there!" Marco dipped into the hut and pointed directly to Dororo, who was puzzled and not all that sure he enjoyed not going unnoticed for once. Lupapa shut her eyes and sighed.

"I've got to go get some firewood," she snapped, and stomped out of the room. The old woman who tended to Keroro and Chunini followed soon after them.

"…What? What are you looking at?..." Dororo looked at Keroro and Giroro, who were silent but with the most bizarre looks on their faces.

"It'd seem as though one of us as been up to a little more than the rest, gero gero gero!" Keroro laughed.

"She does seem like your type. Congratulations…" Giroro answered, following by a chuckle on his own. "I wouldn't have thought you, out of the three of us…."

"N-no, everyone's reading too much into this!" Dororo countered quickly, holding up his hands and laughing weakly. "Lupapa-dono's another protector of Pekopon, I've simply been helping her preserve this beautiful place!"

"Come on, Dororo, your Mama would be so grateful to her!"

"G-grateful?!" Dororo choked.

"Hrm… We already have the first Keronian born on Pekopon, a wedding would distract the media from figuring out we've been getting a whole lot of nothing done and it would be some sign of success, I'm sure," Keroro added.

"We'd have to explain her, though, and we're running out of relatives," Giroro added.

"Now wait just a moment!" Dororo yelped in between all of this.

"We could think of someone!" Keroro added. "Pururu-chan's not one to get in the way of these things, maybe she could have Lupapa Gocho pretend to be a cousin…."

"Kukuku, when you're done with this nonsense, I think I have something to show you," Kururu stuck his head in the doorway, and Dororo was secretly thrilled for this distraction.

"Where have you been?" Giroro wondered aloud as the three walked out of the hut.

"I think my health's nearly at its limit," Dororo muttered to himself miserably.

"Kuku! It took a lot of research, but I found out who Rokiki was," Kururu had set his laptop on a picnic blanket towards the outskirts of the village, along with his curry-making supplies. "He was the one originally supposed to lead the research team to Pekopon, but was replaced last minute by a young upstart… It was a move to show off what a good soldier had been made at such a young age, kuku!"

"So he was tossed out for no good reason," Giroro concluded. "That would have been helpful to know in the beginning."

"Is there anything else you found, Kururu-dono?" Dororo asked.

"The pilot was a last-minute change, too, to someone with relatively little experience with such distances," Kururu added. "The pilot's name was Kodada, she was little more than a first-class private."

"Such a big job for a low rank," Giroro said to himself. "…I wonder what else he's keeping from us."

"Ojiisama would have a good reason if there was anything, Giroro!" Keroro answered with a wave of the hand. "If it's important, I have my complete faith in him that he would tell us exactly what it was!"

"I'm most worried about why we haven't heard of Rokiki, or why someone tries to stop us whenever we want to talk about him… I think there's a lot more to this than your uncle's telling you, Keroro," Giroro turned away from them at this and began to walk toward the jungle. "I'm going to do some training."

Dororo left as well, and then Keroro finally left the scientist. The sergeant felt ill at-ease, for some reason.

"And that's another way to make them apologize, even if you were in the wrong," Giroro walked in, thoroughly exhausted but with a sense of relief at getting his pent-up anger out in the form of training. Kirere laid out on the floor, taking notes about something on a notepad, while Chunini, who had come to a little while ago, dictated to her.

Tamama sat a ways away from them in the hut, but it was obvious he was listening intently as well. Romama, on the other hand, sat with his arms folded, and blushing slightly.

"What are you two talking about?" he asked innocently enough, and Kirere looked up at him and smiled.

"She's teaching me how to bend men to my will," Kirere answered casually, while Giroro was literally floored by this revelation.

"You… You're too young for that!" Giroro answered, flustered, and lifted the young girl up under his arm and carried her out. "I won't have her setting a bad example for you!"

"Heh, looks as though she already has someone bent to her will," Chunini mused to herself.

"Fujuju lives here… I know Kodada's in Europe as well, but out of everyone he's the closest, so he would know how to get you there," Lupapa explained to Dororo as she drew out on the large European map for him in red pen. "That isn't much, but…."

"It's enough," Dororo took up the map and stood next to her. "Thank you for your help, Lupapa-dono, I'm just sad you're declining to join our own platoon… But I understand your reasons, you have a wonderful family here."

"It was nice having a little extra help for at least one night, it felt almost like a vacation," Lupapa answered, and this seemed to cause something to click on in Dororo's mind.

"So are we really going?" Kirere laughed a bit now as Giroro continued to carry her under one arm like she was a knapsack; she was having a good time as he carried her around, and the corporal himself seemed to be doing this more than for her amusement than anything else. "Couldn't we stay a little bit longer? I was just learning not to catch the ball with my head in soccer!"

"We'll play more at home, what's important now is that we keep on with our mission, and get some kind of results…"

"All right," she mumbled, and Giroro stopped, and set her down onto the ground.

"…Are you sure you're all right with….?"

"I'm fine," Kirere nodded. "Papa didn't say anything mean, I promise…"

"But what did he…?"

"That's a secret," Kirere giggled and winked, and Giroro's shoulders fell.

"You're scary when you act like him," Giroro muttered.

"All right, I think we're ready to move on!" Keroro announced as he met back up with the group, who was almost all present that afternoon, save for the ninja assassin of the platoon.

"Say, where's Dororo?" Keroro wondered aloud.

"I… I'm right here, Keroro-kun," Dororo held up his hand weakly, although part of him was glad he had gone back to being sometimes forgotten. He'd gotten too much unwanted attention for his liking as of recent. Lupapa was next to him as well, her face serious as always.

"Ah, and Lupapa Gocho, not packed yet, or nothing you're wanting to take?" Keroro asked, leaning forward. "You look eager to start your new life!"

"What? I'm not leaving, I never was," Lupapa answered.

"I'm the one staying," Dororo replied.

"What?!" all, including Lupapa, were stunned by this.

"I…. I'm needed here, for a great good," Dororo answered, his head drooping. "Please understand."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

"D-Dororo! What about Koyuki!?" Giroro started the barrage that began immediately.

"You're our sanest character, you can't leave us alone! That'll leave us with Kii-chi, and she's useless unless the TV's out!" Tamama added.

"Yeah!" Kirere couldn't help but agree with this. "And what about your part of the Earth?! There's still a lot in Japan for you to take care of!"

"Hehe, Dororo, this is a silly joke, right?" Keroro asked with a laugh. "I never knew you had such a wonderful sense of humor!"

"I… I have my reasons for this," Dororo answered, and looked back. "This area, it's so vast, and with only one person protecting so much—"

"It's just fine with one, it has been for a long while," Lupapa added. "You didn't think I was handicapped before, don't now. It isn't your fault, what happened to me."

"She goes on like she's in a samurai movie," Chunini snorted.

"Shut it, you!" Lupapa growled.

"Homely!" Chunini shot back.

"I'm fine here," Lupapa turned her attention back to Dororo. "But… Thanks anyway."

Dororo nodded his head, and Lupapa gave a calm smile. Keroro butted in between this serene moment.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to join our cause for just a little while?"

"She doesn't want to go!" Giroro snapped.

"Kuku! We're all ready to board," Kururu announced.

"I'll catch up with you all there… I'm going to torment Lupapa-chan a little while longer," Chunini added as they all began to walk toward their ship.

"What? Are you sure, Chunini-san?" Keroro asked, and Chunini laughed.  
"I have a private jet to fly me, I don't need grade-F space garbage!" she laughed haughtily. "That thing you fly doesn't even pass for business class!"

"If there were ever a Keronian woman I wanted to fight, it'd be her," Giroro muttered through gritted teeth.

Kirere, meanwhile, looked down at her bracelet, and gave a small sigh. She unbuckled it and then ran back to the two Keronian women, who both watched the child curiously.

"Here, you can have this," she held it out for Lupapa. "I don't need it anymore."

"What? For me? Are… Are you sure?" Lupapa asked, and Kirere smiled and nodded.

"Here, fair is fair," Lupapa removed one of the golden bracelets she wore and exchanged Kirere for her simple black one. "It's a little big for you, but you'll grow into it."

"If you start eating lots and lots of donuts as young as possible, just like Lupapa-chan did," Chunini added.

"Don't call me –chan, I'm older than you!" Lupapa snapped, putting a fist on the top of Chunini's head and preparing to punch at any moment.

"Wow… Thanks!" the young girl laughed happily, and ran away with her new treasure. Lupapa looked up after fixing the bracelet on, and saw Dororo looking back to both of them. He held up his hand to wave goodbye, and she did the same. After a moment he dropped it, and was soon out of sight.

"Of all the times for you to find someone," Chunini shook her head after they had vanished. "….I'm sorry, Lupapa… And I mean that."

"Let's just do what we have to," Lupapa answered coldly, beginning the trek back to her home as she looked down at the black band and its simple silver buckle.

"Maybe we should say something to him," Keroro whispered as they were back on the transport ship, sitting on one side while Dororo looked out the window on the other. Kururu was flying, and Romama was also sitting up front, neither having much interest in this.

Giroro nodded, and looked to Keroro, "But what do we say?"

"Gero, that's where I blank out," Keroro admitted. "Wait, I've got it!"

"Then maybe we should—" Giroro began, but Keroro's mouth was already going. To stop him now would be like trying to stop an avalanche with a dustpan.

"Hey! Dororo!" Keroro called out to get the lance corporal's attention. "When you're ready to meet someone new, Giroro and I can help you!"

This only sent Dororo into trauma mode. Kirere took a step forward toward Dororo, to comfort the ninja, but Giroro placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's best to let this just pass, to try to break him from it would be like attempting to wake a sleepwalker," Giroro instructed, and Kirere nodded.  
"What did I say?" Keroro asked, sincerely confused.

The flight was a long one, even with alien technology that allowed them to speed along. By the time they managed to touch land, it was still light out, but Tamama, Kirere, and Keroro had all fallen asleep. Even Romama was starting to nod off when he was jolted awake by the landing spacecraft.

"We're here," Kururu said simply as he looked back to everyone. Through the windows it looked gray outside… They'd made touchdown at the home of Fujuju Socho.

While they were landing in one part of the world, in Japan there were several worried Pekoponians who were just getting ready to take flight.  
Mahihi's wife had decided to stay, and she was promised as soon as there were any developments she'd be notified.

"I feel bad for her, Nee-chan," said Fuyuki as he placed his bag in the overheard compartment, and Natsumi nodded.

"I hope this doesn't mean Stupid Frog's bitten off more than her can chew again… He never thinks, just goes and gets himself in trouble, and then we have to save him!"

"Hehe, he's helped us plenty of times too, Nee-chan, even if he started the problem. He always makes up for anything he's done wrong," Fuyuki added, and Natsumi gave a sigh.

"Well, I—Huh?! What now?!" Natsumi asked as she and Fuyuki ran to the opposite side of the plane as they heard a sudden buzzing noise from outside the runway.

"I-it's a helicopter!" Fuyuki said in amazement, and then watched in horror as a woman in a black business suit jumped out of the helicopter, and landed perfectly on the concrete, crouched down and with a sheathed samurai-style sword in one extended hand.

"Fuyuki-kun will just love these snacks… And no one here to steal them on him!" Momoka clenched her fist as she now walked onto the runway, a multi-layered bento box in hand. She was oblivious as to what had just happened. That was, until Paul jumped out in front of her.

"Please, Miss Momoka, hurry to the plane! Leave me!" Paul ordered her, and she looked past Paul to the bespectacled woman, who now stood with her sword drawn.

"I was told that my client is here!" barked out the woman with the sword.

"Madam, I haven't the slightest what you're talking about, but you're not getting any further than where you stand," Paul announced, and her eyes narrowed.

"I'll take that as a challenge," she ran, full force, with the sword in hand. Paul dodged out of the way, causing her to stumble a bit and then turn around.

The battle that followed was one for the ages. Paul managed to retrieve the sword from her, but she only pulled out a dagger and then continued.

"Please, surrender!" Paul grunted. "I will not have you harming Miss Momoka or her friends!"

"I have no interest in the Nishizawa Peach Group!" she added. "Only my client! I was told she would be with the Hinata children!"

"Why does this all stink of that Stupid Frog?" Natsumi muttered as she watched from inside with Momoka and Fuyuki.

"Paul… Be strong!" Momoka called out, her hands to her mouth. She kept eyeing Fuyuki, looking for him to comfort her in her time of need. Much to her chagrin she found no signs of it.

"These other aliens have been a bad influence for Chu!" growled the small woman, and Paul stopped her leg, mid-kick.

"Did you say… Other aliens?" he asked, and she met with his eyes.

When she had finally regrouped, she sat on the plane with the Hinata children and Momoka, across from a table sipping her tea and acting as though nothing had happened.

"All that Chu left was this letter, saying that she was being held against her will, and she gave me your address, so I assumed her captors were you, naturally," Lee pulled out the letter and handed it over to Natsumi like it were a business contract.

"First Mahihi, now another Keronian from Romama's Platoon…. This is getting more and more serious," Fuyuki muttered, and Natsumi nodded, and passed the letter back to Lee. She took another sip of her tea and then continued.

"We have numerous search efforts out for my client as we speak…. You have to understand, Miss Chunini is the only friend I have. Before she took me on as he manager I was working a dead-end job representing children's entertainment actors. I will go to any length to assure her safety. Any."

"Apparently so," Paul said as he came back with a tray of fresh tea for the group.

"The only hint we have is that they're in Brazil," Natsumi sighed.

"That's all?" Lee asked. "I lost her once in Osaka for a week…. She'd done it just to clock my time. Brazil is a massive country."

"Wait!" Fuyuki snapped his fingers. "Nee-chan, remember Kirere's bracelet? It has a tracker on it!"

"Yeah, that's right! Because she's always getting lost!" Natsumi gasped. "Mois-chan might be able to find out their location! I'll go call her."

Lee smirked as Natsumi walked away, and then removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes, "I don't see how you handle so many at once… Chu is trying enough on my soul."

"Gunso and his friends are a handful, but they're really good deep down!" Fuyuki answered.

"Fuyuki! She got a location!" Natsumi called out.

"That's great, Nee-chan!"

"Now let's just hope Stupid Frog isn't in trouble…. Or worse…."

"My legs… I can't feel… My legs… Why would anyone live somewhere so cold on purpose?" Keroro shook horribly, as did the others aside from Dororo and Romama.

"Are we there yet? My tail's got icicles on it!" Tamama cried out, and Kirere gave a sneeze.

"One more turn, and this should be the place she told us about…." Keroro answered.

"If this one doesn't join us of have any answers, I swear this frigid island will be yours and his grave, Keroro," Giroro growled through chattering teeth.

When they turned a corner down the London block, it took them a moment to realize the building address they had been given was to the abandoned building before them. It was boarded up, and completely dark inside.

"Terrific, another one of her cruel jokes!" Giroro snapped.

"Huh?" Tamama sniffed the air, and then stood there. "…It's… Fresh cookies! The smell's coming from in there!"

"What? Really?" Keroro looked at the building, and then to Tamama.

"This place is abandoned, that's impossible!" Giroro grumbled.

"Could we just go in at least? I'm really cold," Kirere whined, and Giroro, after a moment, relented. After tearing away a few boards and opening the door, all rushed past him into the slightly warmer building.

Books. Stacks and stacks of books upon books. It formed a maze, and nearly blocked out the little light there was in the old shop, which was otherwise covered in dust. Books lined up the staircase, they crammed the shelves, and they littered the floor. Kirere fell more than once, and eventually Dororo had to keep a hand on her shoulder to steady the clumsy girl.

"This is really creepy… I hope there isn't a creepy cat lady in here," Tamama muttered.

"Wow, I didn't even know there were this many different books!" Kirere gasped.

"Kuku, that's because you don't read," Kururu answered with a chuckle, and Kirere gave a huff.

"My… There aren't pictures in any of these!" Keroro shook his head as he opened the ancient Pekoponian text and skimmed through the pages. "It looks as though there's nothing interesting…" He tossed the book aside and sighed, then shot his head over as he noticed Giroro climbing up the stairway.

"Eh? Giroro, what do you think you're doing there?" Keroro asked, and Giroro motioned for him to hush. As the others climbed up to get a better look at what Giroro was looking at, they saw there was a yellow light coming from the second floor. The corporal stalked over to one particular ajar door that not only had light, but music coming from it.

Romama formed the tail end of the group. As they stopped he looked back to get a better look at his surroundings, and his eyes went wide with horror. What only looked like a puppet of a clown hanging from the ceiling to many caused Romama to rush away, knocking down Kururu and starting a chain reaction which ended with Tamama falling atop Giroro and then Giroro hitting against the door and sending it flying open.

The Keronian on the other side of the door gave a high scream of surprise and fell back from the stool he had been stand on, falling onto the ground and hitting his head on the wooden floor.

"…D-don't tell me we traveled all this way and then killed him," was the last thing the strange Keronian heard before it went black on him.

When he came to, he laid out on the couch in the small apartment he'd made for himself, and there was a group just like him staring back at him in interest.

"Oh, good, no need to find a shovel now!" Keroro sighed with relief, and the other Keronian, who was a dark khaki in skin color, bolted up, and rushed back to his small kitchen area.

"They're burning!" he muttered to himself, swinging open the oven and finding it empty. "Where did they—Eh?" Tamama stood in the kitchen, and was only noticed now. One of the black Keronian's hands held an empty tray, while the other, the last cookie. The brownish Keronian, a full-grown adult male, hurried over to Tamama, and looked down at the private.  
"Enjoy those, I take it?"

"U-um, y-yes?" the closeness of this stranger made Tamama more than a little uncomfortable, as did his bizarre eyes. There were a few moments of silence, and then the brown Keronian's smile grew, and he took a step back.

"Wonderful, I'll make more!" he clasped his hands together and grinned. He then went back to whistling and hopped up onto his stool, and resumed cooking.

"This one's a strange one, kuku!" Kururu chuckled.

"You saying that terrifies me," Giroro muttered.


	12. Chapter 12

"You see, I don't get that many guests, which is why I was so surprised!" the Keronian, who was indeed Fujuju, continued to talk as he walked about the room, doling out tea to the platoon and rushing back to his kitchen every now and again to check on the dinner he was making.

Fujuju had a wide-eyed expression, and wild, strange green eyes, which were dark green alternating with thin circles of lighter green. He had a Kururu-like smile, and his symbol on his cap and stomach were the Greek E-like symbol sigma. These symbols were both blue, while his cap was dark red, and a style much like Keroro's or Tamama's, save for the shorter sides. He wore a long yellow and red plaid scarf wrapped about his neck, and he moved about quickly and haphazardly.

"So, what might I do for you all?" while he spoke in Japanese, it was with a touch of a British accent. He had finally stopped long enough for someone to speak to him, after rushing about since waking up from his head injury.

"Chunini Gunso told us you knew of Kodada-san's whereabouts," Fujuju's smile fell as Keroro said this, and Fujuju stopped, his back turned to the platoon.

"We've been traveling around with Romama-dono searching for her," Dororo answered. "Eh… Fujuju-dono?"

"Yes… She's in Germany," Fujuju answered, and Romama leaned forward, and his eyes went wide, begging for more information. "You… You don't want to see her though. You're better off going home and knowing that she's moved on."

"Romama-dono says that that isn't an option," said Dororo, and Fujuju hung his head a bit.

"Very well, I'll take you to her in the morning, when it's warmer. I'm not one for going out when the sun's down," he returned to his cheery self and now went to cleaning the pots and pans he had used to cook with.

"When does your Pekoponian get home?" Kirere asked, and Fujuju glanced at her, and then went back to his dishes.

"I'm afraid they don't… I'm on my own here. I haven't had direct contact with Pekoponians for quite some time, actually!" he wiped his hands as he took a break from his dishes and hopped off of his stool. "I get my income by solving math problems for universities via the computer, and I'm able to have everything delivered to me."

"…Fujuju-san, when's the last time you've been outside?" Keroro wondered aloud.

Fujuju thought for a moment, and then chuckled, "My, it's been a good fifteen years!"

"You're a hikkimori, just like on the TV!" Tamama said with amazement.

"Fifteen years, never leaving this?" Giroro asked, and Fujuju rushed over to the other side of the living room in his apartment, and began to wipe clean a chalkboard he had set up. Along with this was a type of chemistry lab, as well as an ancient computer in a corner, which sat nearly buried in stacks of papers. "I'd go mad…." Giroro muttered.

"I know what you're all thinking, but, I do have friends… These," he held up a thick leather-bound book and grinned widely. "I'm starting in on my fourth read of this one… It's very interesting! Shelley, Shakespeare, Burgess, Hess, Bradbury… Yes, they're all my friends."

"Don't you miss sunshine, and people?" Kirere asked, and Fujuju looked up at her from above the book.

"No, I've learned to manage well without it," he set down his book and then walked back over to the platoon. "I'll see if I can get together some blankets, everyone's welcome to stay here tonight!"

"I'm not sure I want to," Keroro muttered, and Romama elbowed Keroro for this. Something was upsetting the young Major greatly.

"Romama-dono?" Dororo asked, sensing this. Romama only shook his head and hopped off of the couch, and walked away from the group, and down the stairs.

"Ah! Back! Well, now, where's Romama Shosa?" Fujuju set down a large stack of blankets and looked about for his former boss.

"He's by himself again, he does that a lot," Kirere answered, yawning and stretching. "I'm sleepy again…"

"The weather will do that to some… You're a young one for the military… Just about as old as Romama Shosa was when he made the rank of Major…. So curious, the sudden burst of intellect he possessed," Fujuju muttered. "I'm getting ahead of myself. You all must be exhausted by your trip. Come on now, let's get the blankets out! I'm sorry I don't have a television, it's on order."

"What're you working on here?" Kururu was over by the blackboard, looking over the few equations that did remain.

"That's classified, I'm afraid," Fujuju answered apologetically. "It's… For a chemical company. I specialized in chemicals and biology when I was on Keron."

"Tch," Kururu gave a grunt and then walked away from the board, and hopped up on the couch next to Kirere, Giroro, and Keroro.

"Do you have to be up here, too?!" Giroro snapped.

"Keep an eye on her," Kururu answered, and turned over to sleep as he took his blanket. His tone shook Giroro.

The blankets were given out, and Giroro gave a grumble as he saw Keroro was already asleep. Dororo took his spot on the floor, and Kirere ended up leaning against Giroro as she soon fell asleep. The child was immovable, so Giroro forced himself to sleep, although it was a light one. He had felt a certain uneasiness around Chunini as well, but Fujuju was quite hard to figure out.

After he was sure everyone was asleep, he went back to work at his chalkboard. He only stopped when he heard a yawn some time later, and he turned back to the group and saw Tamama awake on the floor, a flashlight in one hand and one of Fujuju's books on the floor.

"That's a terrific one," Fujuju knelt down across from Tamama and grinned. "You couldn't sleep?"

"Kii-chi and Kururu-san's creepy snoring is keeping me awake. This one isn't too bad once you get past all of the work of reading it," Tamama admitted. "I like the stories about the dragons…"

"Really now? I have a bunch of others," Fujuju lit up, and sprang up. "If you can't sleep, would you like to see some?"

"I guess, if you make more cookies," Tamama yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Already done! I haven't had anyone appreciate my baking like this in a long time!" Fujuju laid the plate proudly on the kitchen table, and Tamama clasped his hands together.

"This is great! I'm going to ask Gunso if we can trade Kururu-san for you! You're as smart as him, but you're nice, too!" Tamama cried happily as he sat at the kitchen table with Fujuju. They could have sworn there was a grunt emitted from one of the couches where the Keroro Platoon slept.

"Fufufufu!" Fujuju laughed and then scurried away, returning with a few other thinner books. "More fairy tales, since you seem to like them…"

"Hey, this one's got a peach in it!" Tamama declared happily, and then his smiled faded as he held the book.

"What's wrong? If… If you don't like that one, I have a lot of others!"

"No, it just reminded me of Momo-chi," Tamama answered, setting the book back on the table and looking at the old tile on the floor.

"She's… A friend of yours?"

"Yeah, just like how Gunso-san has Fu-kii, and Giroro Gocho has Nat-chii," Tamama answered happily. "Even Kii-chi's got a human friend, although he's just as dorky as she is!"

"I see… That must be… Very nice…"

"Fujuju Socho, why don't you come back with us?" Fujuju's head shot up as Tamama suggested this. "Gunso's been wanting someone from Romama's Platoon to join, because you were all strong! No one's been wanting to come, though…."

"They're all so busy with their own lives, of course," Fujuju took a bite of his cookie, and gave a laugh. "I… I would like that. Are you sure that they'd be all right with me joining?"

"Yeah!" Tamama nodded. "Gunso-san's going to be so happy when he hears this!"

"Well, then!" Fujuju stood from his table and smiled. "I should make something to celebrate!"

While Fujuju went to baking, Romama found himself lulling off to sleep on the stairs, not minding the cold, but only deep in his own thoughts. As his eyes shut, he was back, all those years ago….

The parade had just ended, and he stood in front of the entire group, Kodada the only one looking remotely hopeful. Lupapa glared out with her lone eye, the other having a black patch over it, and Rokiki stood his distance from all of them. Chunini was chuckling away, looking at herself in a small mirror, Fujuju was reading, and Mahihi looked… Pessimistic, at best…

"All right!" Romama shouted out, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. "We should be ready to move out!"

"I hope your boyfriend knows what he's doing… Because I don't," Chunini mumbled to her sister, and Kodada gave a begging look to Chunini.

"This isn't a picnic, let's go! This is unprofessional enough to cause me a lifetime of embarrassment," Mahihi grumbled, bumping Romama on his way out. Chunini followed, snorting as she glanced at Romama, and Fujuju only kept to his reading.

"…He's going to—" Rokiki began to Lupapa, but she cut him off.

"Don't speak to me, I've already warned you, Rokiki," Lupapa snapped as she too pushed Romama away to walk out to the ship, and Kodada followed, allowing him the lone sympathetic look. When Rokiki went to walk past him, Romama was surprised to find himself pulled off of the ground by the neck, and pushed against the stone wall of the room.

"I hope that if this goes as badly as I know it will, that you're there to sink with me," Rokiki then dropped him, and rushed out. Romama sat there on the ground, and rubbed his throat. He then pulled his knees up and shut his eyes to block out the cheering. He had never felt so alone.

"We'll do fine," he heard in a familiar voice, and opened them to look back at the orange Keronian in the red flight cap and bandanna, and the large, amber eyes. Kodada extended her hand, and Romama took it, and stood back up.

"Yeah," Romama nodded, and smiled.

As they began to walk towards the ship, Kodada gave a chuckle, "Do you think when we get back we could get married, since we'll be gone a while?"

Romama's face went bright red, and he stumbled a bit. "W-we'll see…."

Kodada said nothing to this, only gave another giggle.

When he woke up, there again were a pair of large eyes, but these were bright blue. Romama gave a startled jump, and Kirere only laughed.

"You fell asleep here, but you looked too comfy to wake up!" Kirere held out a plate to him, piled high with eggs, pancakes, bacon, and fruit. "Fujuju-san made this for everyone! He's going to be part of the team, too!"

After a moment's hesitation, Romama took the plate, and Kirere took a seat next to him, with a plate of her own. Her food was covered in red and brown sauces, and smelt like hot sauce and curry. Romama looked down at her plate in disgust, then dug into his own.

"Mm, it'll be good having a cook around!" Kirere said after taking a big bite of her scrambled eggs. "This is almost as good as Mama's cooking! Did your mom cook a lot?"

Romama thought this over for a moment, and then nodded, and took a small nibble of his food.

"Ah, there you two are! Well, this is adorable!" Fujuju chuckled. Romama looked away, his face a bit red, and Kirere was clearly clueless. The brown Keronian stood on the landing, still wearing an apron and oven mitts. "I just wanted to let you know that there are seconds and thirds if you want them."

"Are you kidding? Save me fourths!" Kirere laughed. "Everyone's gonna get fat off of this cooking… I can see why Mahihi-san's so big, now!"

Romama choked on his food, and Kirere for a moment was alarmed, until she realized he was laughing.

"Ha ha! Maybe when everything's over, we can working on getting your voice back!" she added brightly, and Romama smiled at this, and nodded. Kirere then gave a yawn and her eyes became half-lidded. "All of this rich food's making me sleepy."

Romama noticed now that he, too, began to feel heavy. Kirere set down the plate and gave another yawn, then leant against the wall next to the stairs, "Maybe, I'll… Finish in a minute… I'll just rest my eyes for a minute of two…."

As she began to snore, Romama stood up shakily, and began to trudge up the stairs, forcing himself to do so. Fujuju was standing in his apartment, looking over to the couch, and the sleeping men on it. All had passed out from the food as well.

Romama took another few steps forward, then slid down onto the ground, gripping onto Fujuju's arm as he went down.

"I'm so sorry… I'm sorry…" Fujuju whispered. He then jumped at the sound of footsteps, and looked in the doorway as it was shadowed by several people now.

"Well, well, looks as though it's all of them," came a deep, satisfied laugh. "My new partner's going to be happy with this… Shosa-san's not so tough now. And Chunini… Don't do anything funny with that pink one in your arms, that's the one he's most interested in. I just want this one. We should start loading them up now! I'll get the green and the teal one, you all can carry the others."

"Yes, Rokiki," Fujuju muttered, picking up the sleeping Tamama and allowing the book the black Keronian had been reading to fall to the ground.

While this all went on, Fuyuki stopped in the middle of his searching through the curious flat they'd found in the middle of the rainforest, "Gunso…."

"Eh? Fuyuki, what is it?" Natsumi turned around and stood.

"Nothing, I just… Got a really bad feeling all of a sudden," Fuyuki muttered.

"I think I found something. Is this the bracelet?" Lee walked over to them, and Fuyuki, Natsumi, and Momoka all gathered around her. Lee opened the buckle, and Natsumi blinked.

"A picture of Dororo Heicho?" Fuyuki wondered aloud.

"So that's why she's so protective of it. It makes me wonder what Giroro keeps in his," Natsumi added. "What's it doing here?"

"This was with it," Lee added, handing them a small disk. The writing was unmistakably Keronian.

"We should be able to play it on any computer," said Fuyuki.

"Let's get back to the plane quick, then!" said Momoka, who began to run, but was stopped, recoiling in surprise as a young boy hopped up and tilted his head to one side at the sight of the strangers.

"You must be the people Auntie mentioned!" he gasped. "She said there'd be some human weirdos coming!"

"And people wonder why I find children insufferable," Lee grumbled.

"She said to give you this," he pulled out a small gold band from his pocket, and Fuyuki's eyes went wide after taking hold of it.

"It's Mahihi's wedding band!" Natsumi went cold at the sight of it. "Fuyuki, we've got to find them."

"Right!" Fuyuki nodded.

"I'm coming, too!" Marco added. "My Auntie said I'd have to come along to help protect you!"

"Fine, let's just get going," Natsumi sighed as she hopped onto one of the ropes to climb off of the flat platform. Natsumi's tone worried Fuyuki; she was usually never this worried, especially about the sergeant…


	13. Chapter 13

"Dororo, are you awake?" Giroro asked, finally opening his eyes after the doors shut. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yes, Giroro-dono," Dororo answered, sitting up. "That food didn't seem to have as great an affect on me."

"All I had was water, he must have spiked that, too… Ugh, the room's still spinning, though. Looks like Kururu was right about this guy, as much as I hate to admit it," Giroro grumbled. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"No, I'm afraid not…" Dororo stood and ran his hands against one of the walls. Metal, smooth, no openings….

"We should see if everyone else is here," Giroro stood and leaned against the wall uneasily. "Ugh, well, I think I just kicked the idiot…. Some leader, he's the first to fall asleep."

"I've got Tamama-dono and Kirere-chan here…" Dororo added.

"And this one's Kururu… I don't feel Romama around here," Giroro said. "Dororo… You don't think that they're all in on this, do you?"

"Including Romama-dono? No, I wouldn't think so."

"Are you only saying that because it's what you want to believe? That isn't like you," said Giroro, and Dororo answered with silence. "…We should work on getting out of here, there's no sense in waking up everyone and scaring them if we can get out on our own."

"Agreed," Dororo nodded, and then both continued to feel about the dark box, looking for any exit.

"Let's see what's on here," Fuyuki placed the disk into the laptop, and all gathered around it. There was a flickering, and then the screen flashed on. Lupapa sat there, looking offward and out of place s she sat there.

"Hey, get going!" came a voice from behind the camera.

"That's Miss Chu's voice!" Lee exclaimed.

"And that's my Auntie on the screen!" Marco added, pointing to Lupapa.

"Greetings… Pekoponians… If you're getting this, then, good… Well, not good. You're in a lot of trouble," Lupapa spoke stiffly in front of the camera, and sat there, facing straight ahead. Chunini gave a sigh of disgust and the camera was set down, and she stepped in front of the camera, and gave a wide grin.

"Excuse her, she's not used to people actually paying attention to her," said Chunini with laugh. She hugged Lupapa around the shoulders and continued. "What she's trying to tell you Pekoponians is that your friends have screwed up big this time."

"I knew it," Natsumi sighed, her shoulders falling.

"By the time you get this, they'll probably be in the hands of someone you're familiar with, and someone you're not so familiar with," Lupapa added after pushing away Chunini.

"We're here as your secret weapon!" Chunini added, coming back onto the screen.

"You're incorrigible!" Lupapa snapped.

"You shouldn't use words you can't spell!" Chunini answered quickly in retort.

"Hey, you two mind getting along for five minutes?! They won't be gone forever… My kids get along better than you!" Mahihi's voice came off-screen, and both women adjusted in their seats.

"Your friends are going to be located here," Chunini unfolded a large map and held it in front of the camera, and Lupapa pointed to it accordingly. "My advice? Stay as far away as you can…. But you can do what you want with this information. Next time you see us, we might not be as friendly toward you. Stay safe as best you can."

"…What do you think that means, Nee-chan?" Fuyuki asked as the screen then went blank after a moment, leaving the group standing around the blank laptop.

"I think this means we have to go rescue them, of course," Natsumi stood and folded her arms. "If they get captured or worse, who knows what'll happen? Someone competent might actually come and try to take over the planet."

"Nee-chan…" was all Fuyuki answered as he smiled at his sister, who stood with her hands on her hips and her head up in the air.

"It might be dangerous for children, I'll accompany you," Lee added sternly. "Understand I'm honoring a pact between Miss Chu and myself."

"Lee-san, you and Chunini-san really are best friends, aren't you?" Natsumi said in awe as Lee stood and removed her sword from the side of her seat where it had been sitting.

"It goes even beyond that," Lee answered, glancing at her reflection as she opened the blade slightly and then slid it back into its sheath. "Let's play that again, see if we can get a better picture of that map, also see if there's anything hidden on there we didn't catch the first time."

"And with this all of the pieces are falling into place…" Romama heard through the ringing as he began to awake. He attempted to open his eyes, but the room's harsh light was too much for him. The beeping noises around him sounded so familiar, but his thoughts were too fuzzy to place them…

"I have my prize, you can do what you want with those others," Romama immediately recognized the second voice, the deep, gruff one. Romama tried to raise his head, and after a few moments succeeded. The violet catlike eyes were chillingly familiar.

"Looks like you finally awoke, Teicho," the last word was spat out, sounding more like a taunt than a title. Romama's eyes were now fully adjusted, and he recognized the room around him now, as well as both of the men in front of him, although it took him a few moments to register who the Pekoponian behind Rokiki was.

"Looks like he's seen a ghost!" Rokiki laughed and then growled. "…There really wasn't much of a hesitation for the rest of the team to turn you in… But when it's a choice between you, or someone they actually like…. Except for Fujuju. He turned you in for his books, because he's just like you. He has no one. But we both know why that is."

Romama wriggled in his restraints, and Rokiki gave another laugh, "Not even you'd be able to get through those. I have a new best friend who specializes in collecting alien technology like this. You're not going anywhere… In fact, you're going to get to watch the entire show…. You look puzzled. Nikolai hasn't told you, then."

The Pekoponian took a step out of the shadows, and Romama gave a start, knowing now why Kezanstav had been difficult to spot at first… Half of his face was covered in bandages, as were his hands. He wore a long brown coat over his usual black suit, and also a smile, as Romama wriggled even more.

"Your old platoon is going to put on a show for us, payback for what they caused to happen to me last time," Kezanstav laid a hand over the bandaged portion of his face, and his expression turned to one of sadness for a moment, then hardened once again.

"Do you remember how long you and I searched for your ship?" Kezanstav walked across to the large glass windows, which overlooked the forested property around them. Romama recognized the house as one of Kezanstav's numerous mansions, complete with a fine collection of alien technology. "Well… I found it. And without your help. I also found one of your friends, still in it. It turns out we have a lot in common, and we struck up an offer… He gets you, I get a replacement for you," he then held up a familiar collar, and the color from Romama's face left.

"So many options… That pink one is an obvious choice, but why destroy all of them when I could have two working for me? What did you think of that green one, Rokiki?"

"Hehe, that blue one isn't bad, either," Rokiki smiled, his white sharp teeth glinting in the shadows.

"How about we just see who survives, and make it their prize?" Kezanstav opened a glass door, which led out onto a large balcony. A force field surrounded the home and an expanse of the forest, and Romama looked down, his yellow eyes wide as he saw the circular ship parked almost directly underneath them. On the top of the ship stood four figures, all stanced and ready for battle.

"Looks like our gift is here!" Kezanstav clasped his hands together as a solid metal block floated down onto the large balcony, and he stood in front of it, grinning wildly. "…This is finer than Christmas."

He held out an arm to the metal box, and it became translucent, revealing the Keroro platoon. They were all awake now, and stopped their search for a way out as soon as the darkness vanished from the box.

"Ojiisama!" Keroro yelled out, rushing to the box and hitting his head against it.

"Ojiisama?" Rokiki wondered aloud, and Romama hung his head, and grit his teeth. "Kezanstav-san, it looks like he has more than Kodada afterall!"

"Let us go, bastards!" Giroro banged on the invisible wall, and Rokiki growled at them. It was their first good look at the dark, dark red Keronian with the purple, angry eyes. His symbol was on his stomach, and it was a crescent, almost like a smile. He wore black tattoos, two crescents (a larger and a smaller) beneath each eye, as well at on each shoulder. In the center of his head was another tattoo, a black upside down triangle.

His outfit was ancient… Two thick bracelets with purple stones on either of them, and a purple and black skirt-like cloth about his waist, with geometrical patterns decorating it. In the center of the cloth about his waist there was a gold square buckle, which were also present on his hat. His hat was black, circular, flat on top and decorated in a circular of the golden squares. A light purple cloth came down from it, forming a veil about the back of his head. His teeth were sharp, and formed into what looked like a permanent frown.

His appearance was enough for Kirere to hide behind Tamama, who narrowed his eyes, daring the new Keronian to lay a hand on his little pest/sister.

"That's a cute gesture your boyfriend's making for you, but it won't help you," Kezanstav leaned down at smiled directly at Kirere. "You caused me a lot of trouble, Kirere-chan… A lot of it."

Don't call her by her name!" Giroro snarled, and Kezanstav chuckled.

"This is going to be fun, and you can thank your good friend Romama for this," Kezanstav stood back next to Rokiki, and Romama remained there, with his head hung.

"Ojiisama? What's he talking about?" Keroro asked, and Romama only shut his eyes, and wouldn't look up to any of the platoon.

"I'm guessing he didn't tell you, then. I wouldn't expect anything less from him," Rokiki snorted. "The whole reason we crash-landed on this planet is because we had a pilot and a leader who both cheated their way into their positions!"

"What?!" Keroro yelped. "H-how dare you make up such stories about my Ojiisama! He's one of the most honest people I know! Sure, he doesn't have the best of tempers, but neither does Giroro, and we're still friends!"

"Watch it, idiot!" Giroro growled.

"He excelled in the physical tests, I should know, I was one of the ones overseeing them," Rokiki explained. "But when it came to the mental testing portion, he bombed every single time… Then his scores began to mysteriously improve, as did the pilot Kodada's, who was a brilliant test-taker but not the best of pilots. I caught them switching places and taking tests for one another."

"…O-Ojiisama?" Keroro choked.

"Romama?" Kirere asked in a weak voice.

"I reported both of them, but it was too late… He was already a golden-child, and I'd already been replaced. The generals would have looked like fools if they'd been found out, and this non-deserving cretin got to take my glory, my mission!" Rokiki growled. "They added me back on last minute as his subordinate!"

"Why would the military put their soldiers in danger like that!?" Giroro snorted. "I think your story's full of it!"

"An incompetent chosen to lead a mission to Pekopon? You're asking how the military could allow for that to happen?" Rokiki snapped, and Giroro's eyes widened. Keroro felt a number of eyes upon him at that moment. "They didn't want themselves to look bad, but they allowed me to go under the pretense it was only as help. I was there to make sure things went smoothly."

"Kukuku! Looks like you were less competent out of the two," Kururu chuckled.

"He's a funny one… Part of me hopes he's the one who makes it. I need a little entertainment around here," Kezanstav said in a light voice.

"Makes it?" Dororo repeated.

"We're going to have a meeting of the old versus the new," Romama's head shot up at this, and Kezanstav raised his hand, and along with it went the invisible box that held the platoon. It then sunk down slowly, and then zoomed off into the woods, crashing and disappearing into the forest.

"Rokiki! I want you to bring the pink one to me alive. Do whatever you wish with the others along the way," Rokiki nodded, and hopped onto the railing of the balcony, and then he, too vanished into the forest. "And you get a first-row seat to see what you've wrought," Kezanstav stood beside Romama's chair, and Romama looked up and out into the woods. Already a burst of flame shot up from one corner of the woods.

"I think I know who that is," Kezanstav commented as they both watched the burning woods in the distance. "Out of all of them, who do you think has the best option? I'm placing my money on your nephew. I love an underdog."

Haruki grumbled as he heard the frantic pounding on his door late that night, and trudged through his small, shack-like home, through magazines, food wrappers, and whatever else had been left out on the floor.

Natsumi gave a yell of disgust as the door opened, and Haruki answered in boxer shorts and a white plain shirt, "Don't you put on pants when you open the door!?"

"Wh-what—Do you know what time it is!?" Haruki exclaimed, pulling a pair of jeans up from his floor and then shutting his front door while putting them on.

"Suzuyama-san, something's happened to Gunso and everyone!" Fuyuki called through the door, and Haruki barreled out a moment later, his hair held back by a yellow band, and a pair of old sneakers on his feet.

"They're an hour north of here, Momoka-chan's going to help us fly there," Natsumi added.

"It was the least I could do," Momoka answered. Haruki now looked around, and saw Koyuki the ninja, Mois the angelic destroyer, a small Spanish boy he'd never met, and what was possibly the scariest, sternest woman he'd ever met.

"We came here for this bum?" Lee snapped, her arms folded. "We're running out of precious time!"

"Hey! I'll have you know this bum's only a dissertation away from a PhD!" Haruki snapped.

"That's terrifying," Natsumi said beneath her breath.

"Marco-san's going to stay at our house with Mahihi-san's wife and see if anyone shows up there," Fuyuki added, and Marco's faced showed he didn't like the idea of his at all.

"I came here to help my Auntie and her boyfriend!" Marco answered. "And that's just what I'm going to do!"

"Children are so annoying," Lee grumbled. "Kid, if you go I'll make sure Miss Chu comes to your birthday, that's a promise."

"She's helped us for years, and now my Auntie's in trouble, I just know it!" Marco's eyes welled up, and then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, and Koyuki smiled back at him.

"Your aunt will be just fine, my ninja senses never fail me when it comes to this sort of thing," Koyuki explained. "Plus watching the home base is one of the most important jobs there is!"

"It… It is?" Marco asked, and Koyuki nodded. "Okay, then. I'll do it!"

"…I'll stay behind, too," Haruki said after a moment of thought. "I have a feeling you guys have more experience in this sort of thing than me. I'll just weigh you down."

"Heh, maybe the bill dodger is smart after all," Natsumi said to herself as Haruki hopped onto his scooper and Marco climbed on behind him.

"Should we be worried with just them watching the house?" Fuyuki asked as the two sped off down the road. "We don't have Gunso or anyone there, really."

"I already thought of that," Koyuki held up a paper plane, then smiled, and sent it flying. It vanished into the distance, and Natsumi stood there, stunned.

"You really are amazing, Koyuki-chan," Natsumi murmured, and Koyuki gave a bashful laugh in return.

"Ow, my tail hurts… I landed too hard on it!" Kirere sniffed as she stood up and wiped her face. They had crash landed in the middle of over one hundred acres, or so it looked. Giroro and Dororo scouted about while Kirere and Tamama remained close together, and Kururu remained pounding on his keyboard and trying in vain to get any of his signals to go out. Keroro just stood there, his back to everyone. For once, the sergeant was a silent.

"It looks like we're trapped here, but fortunately it also looks like we're alone. Eh? What's wrong with you?" Giroro asked as walked back to the group and saw Keroro standing with his back to him. "Hey, I'm talking to—"

Keroro slapped away the hand Giroro had pushed him with, and Giroro was too stunned by this to retort with violence or verbal abuse.

"Gunso-san, what do we do?" Tamama asked.

"I… I don't know…." Keroro answered in a low tone after a pause.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Giroro had recovered by now, and grabbed hold of Keroro, shaking him by the front of the neck. "You're the leader, you're supposed to think of things like that! So that little creep lied, that fact doesn't help our problem!"

Giroro grew frustrated after doing this for a few moments, and pushed Keroro away in disgust, "…You're hopeless…."

Just as he went to walk away from Keroro, he felt his friend's hand grip onto his arm, "…Eh? Don't tell me you thought of something."

"Gero gero… Not a thing, but that hasn't stopped me before," Keroro smiled, and Giroro looked at Keroro, puzzled by this statement.

"He's got that look," Tamama muttered in awe.

"Huh? What look?" Kirere looked back and forth between Tamama and Keroro. "What's going on?"

"Who needs a lot of smarts when you have a group of people who are great at winging it, like we are? We didn't always pass the tests with flying colors, either, but we're skilled in other ways," Keroro turned about and smiled. "And if we can get Ojiisama back, he'll be so grateful we forgive him he'll have to help us defeat Kezanstav-san and Rokiki-san! Even if he isn't smart, he's got strength!"

"I… I can't believe you're actually thinking!" Giroro said in awe.

"Gero gero gero… Someone has to be the smart one in my family, even though I always thought I'd inherited good looks more than anything. Onward to save Ojiisama!"

After raising his fist and rallying his troops, they quickly dispersed as Dororo came crashing through the forest shrubbery, dressed in his full assassin armor. He was soon joined by a Keronian in bronze-colored armor, who carried with them a sharp-pointed staff.

"Gerooooo! We run away in the direction general direction of Ojiisama!" Keroro cried, lifting up Kirere onto his back and then taking off running blindly into the dark, dense woods.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

"Papa! Help!" Kururu stopped, held onto his aching side, and looked toward the direction he had heard the cry help coming from. It had sounded like Kirere.

"What's she gotten herself into now?" Kururu grunted through his wheezing as he trudged over to the sound. They had all been separated in the commotion only moments previous…. It didn't surprise him that Kirere had ended up separated from the others.

"Help! I hurt my leg! It's twisted!" continued Kirere's voice, and Kururu continued to follow it as it got closer to him. He then gave a call of surprise as the ground was lifted out from beneath him and soon the trees surrounding him were all upside down, and he was still spinning. He realized after the initial shock, that he was hung by the foot to one of the surrounding trees. He then gave a glare as out through the bushes walked Chunini, who was still speaking in the very voice he had heard moments ago.

"My leg! I think it's twisted!" Chunini said, ending in a laugh and returning to her normal voice. "I didn't show you that card, did I? Well, you knew my specialty dealt with my voice…."

"Tch," Kururu gave a grunt, and watched as Chunini walked back and forth. Her look had changed since they had last left her… Her hat was the same, but the ribbons on it were yellow, with orange triangle patterns. She wore a bell-shaped smock dress, which was blue on two sides, but orange in the center. On top of the dress was her star symbol. In one hand was a large, painful-looking mace.

Chunini leaned in and smiled at Kururu, and gave a chuckle, "You know, you're kind of cute! Too bad you're not my type! You were probably a real lady killer on Keron, eh?"

"The blood's rushing to my head, would you mind talking a little less and getting me down?" Kururu asked, obviously annoyed by Chunini's nonstop chattering.

"Or maybe you weren't," she winked at him and patted him on the cheek. "I had a really good time, Kururu-kun. It's such a shame…"

"Kukuku! What's your part in this, anyway?" Kururu asked as Chunini had her back turned to him. While she was looking away from him, he was reaching for his headphones.

"It's too complicated for you and your little friends to understand… Just appreciate the time you have left," Chunini turned around, as she did this, Kururu pressed in his headphones, and they popped out, and they began to emit a sound meant to disable Chunini.

Instead, she swung the mace with such force that the soundwaves Kururu's headphones emitted were flown back, completely missing Chunini but coming back at Kururu full force. His glasses shattered, he gave a yell, and was thrown against the tree. He then hung there, fainted and swaying now numbly. Chunini gave a chuckle and poked at the passed out Keronian. She floated up with use of her angel pack, took out a knife, and then cut him loose and slung him over one of her shoulders.

"I think this is generally the other way around, Kururu-kun," she said with a giggle as she walked off into the woods with her bounty.

Giroro gave a grunt as he fell against a fallen log, and took this opportunity to regroup. Keroro? Ran away. Dororo? Fighting some kind of monster. Kururu? Who the hell knew. Tamama and Kirere? Hopefully holding up.

He sat his gun down on the ground and began to reload, not knowing if he would need it. A few moments later he saw that this was a good option, as a shot came from up above the trees and aimed directly at him. It missed him by inches, landing right in between his feet. He gave a gulp and then scrambled up, and looked up to get a better look of the attacker. Something shining and bronze zoomed past him, but was too quick for Giroro to get a good look. Another few shots from a laser fired, and the red corporal climbed up the closest and tallest tree he could find.

Whatever the slender, silent object was, it was confused now by Giroro's absence, and it flew back and forth now like an annoyed carnivore trying to get at a small rodent.

"Of course I stick out like a sore thumb," Giroro muttered as he looked down at himself. He hid himself further in the tree, up against the shadows. "…It's going in a pattern…."

It took it a few times, but then the bronze object came to a jerking halt as a hook attached to it, and Giroro began to climb up it. By the time he reached the surfboard-shaped object, he had his gun pointed at whoever was controlling it. Giroro was stunned silent as he saw it was Mahihi on the other end, and Mahihi who had a gun pointed back at him.

"M-Mahihi!" Giroro yelped out, and then quickly let go of his grip as Mahihi took a shot at one of Giroro's hands.

Giroro fell back to the ground, but only for a few moments. He zoomed back up through the trees moments later, his wingpack now on and with two larger guns, one in either hand.

"Mahihi!" he barked out, and the Keronian turned his head at the sound of his name. "What's the meaning of this?!"

Mahihi didn't answer, only shot once more, Giroro barely dodging out of the way this time. The entire time Mahihi's expression didn't change from a blank, faraway stare.

"So that's how it's going to be," Giroro grit his teeth and glared up at Mahihi, who was still floating about, circling him.

This Mahihi looked much more different than the one they'd encountered before. Gone was the Hawaiian shirt, and now two tattoos on either side of his arms were visible—Ones that looked just like Rokiki's. He had on a cloth about his waist, too, like Rokiki, although the colors were brown and black. There was a collar about his neck that looked like palm fronds, and he wore thick gold bracelets that had amber-colored gems on them. On this head was his usual helmet, although about the helmet there was a brown band, and in the center a golden square.

'He's my equal….' Giroro thought as he glared across at Mahihi, who awaited Giroro's next move, as if playing with him a bit. 'If I want to get anything done it has to be something he wouldn't expect…'

"You really don't get it, do you?" Mahihi asked with a sigh, breaking the silence between them. His half-lidded eyes went wide for a moment, then, as Giroro sped forward, full force, butting into Mahihi with his skull and knocking the winded soldier off of his surfboard. It went flying out of the way while Mahihi began a plummet to the ground. He was saved last minute by Giroro, who had gripped onto his hand quickly, keeping Mahihi from a rough landing on the hard forest floor. He then let Mahihi fall, although it was only a few feet now.

"Thanks, Aka Baka," Mahihi said with relief as he sat there, sitting up on the ground he'd fallen onto. He said this no sooner than Giroro had a gun pointed directly in the middle of his forehead.

"I did it so I could get a clear shot here. I—eh?!"

Mahihi gripped onto Giroro's wrist in such a way the gun was released from his grip, and Mahihi grabbed it and then used it to press Giroro against him, placing the gun beneath the corporal's neck and restraining him this way. Giroro struggled until Mahihi bent down and whispered.

"Dude, knock it off! We're on your side! But if we don't make this look good, someone's going to get suspicious!" Mahihi whispered, and Giroro stopped his struggle, and looked back over his shoulder to Mahihi, stunned by this news.

Dororo watched for a moment as Giroro and Mahihi continued to battle, after a curious standstill. They then resumed their fighting, crashing down into the woods. He didn't have a long time to search for his friend after that, his assailant was back, and the bronze-colored clawed glove they wore sliced right through his hiding place.

He jumped back and landed down on the forest ground, his blade in front of him for protection. He was finally allowed to breathe, although he kept his breathing light, in order to hear his opponent.

And soon they appeared, staff in both hands, ready to come down right atop his head. Dororo held out his sword, and held off the staff this way, although he was now pinned down to the ground by his attacker.

This allowed him his first good look; the armor looked ancient, and was covered in geometric patterns, not uncommon from ancient Keronian outfits; its shape was just like his, including the ears atop it, the only difference being two large jade beads and a white veil coming down on either side of the head, and an oval-shaped covering on the back of the suit of armor, which was for a tail, he assumed. The right eye was covered by a brown patch, and the left one… Was green.

"Lu-Lupapa-dono!" Dororo yelped, and she seemed caught off-guard by him calling out her name. She took a step back, letting off of Dororo and allowing him to rise. She relaxed for a moment, and stood with her staff standing straight up in her hand.

"You all made a terrible mistake of coming here!" she snapped at him, glaring through the one visible eye. "You have no idea the danger you've put yourself in! You.. You should have never gone to see Fujuju!"

"I knew that there was something off about him," Dororo sighed. "So he's the one who made you do this."

"No," his eyes opened fully at the coldness of her voice. "I chose this. And now, having made my choice…." She took up her staff again, and pointed the sharp end at Dororo.

"L-Lupapa-dono, you don't have to do this! There are always options!" Dororo called out all while holding her back with his sword. He jumped back up into the trees, but was pursued by Lupapa the entire way.

He finally found the edge of the forest, where there was only a forcefield, no more running. He turned back around, and saw she was still gaining on him. She attempted to bring the heavy metal staff onto his head again, but again failed, with him blocking this. What followed was a sea of sparks coming from both metallic weapons, with Dororo attempting to defend himself and not harm Lupapa in the process.

It finally came to a standstill when Lupapa grabbed hold of the wrist he held his sword with, and there was a moment of silence between the two.

She then took it, and pulled it forward, allowing it to go through her armor. Dororo watched this, stunned for a moment, then grabbed onto her as she fainted, keeping her from falling down onto the hard ground. He then sheathed his sword, lifted her up, and jumped off, looking for the nearest help, if there was any still.

Lupapa came to with a small grunt, and the sensation of water being splashed on her face, "Wha… What the… Dororo?"

"The wound you inflicted on yourself wasn't a bad one at all, Lupapa-dono. I think you fainted from the exhaustion more than anything," Dororo explained as he wrung out a small cloth he'd been using in the stream he'd stopped at, and Lupapa grabbed hold of her aching head. "Drink some more water, please."

"Eh? Oh," she sat up, and sat there a moment, looking down into her reflection in the stream. Her helmet had been removed, as had Dororo's. "…I'm sorry for this betrayal. He threatened to hurt my family. He's threatening each of us. We're your comrades, we just have to make it look otherwise for them."

"Which is why you did that to yourself, you wanted to give a good cover for vanishing. Well, it's good to know a group as powerful as you, Mahihi-dono, Chunini-dono, and Fujuju-dono are in our corner!" Dororo added, and Lupapa's eyes went wide, and she attempted to bolt upright.

"Fujuju! He's still out there, he—" she fell back to the ground though, Dororo easing her down onto the ground. She gave another groan and held her head. "He can't be stopped once he's started."

"What's that?"

"There's another side to Fujuju, one he can't control. If one of your younger members or that one who acts like a child runs into him, they're done for."

"We'll find him, then," Dororo nodded, and took up his sword.

"I'm going with you," she muttered, and wobbled as she stood. "You're a comrade at arms and a friend before an assassin… I've got to help you."

"Lupapa-dono, you're too weak to right now," Dororo answered warningly, holding out a hand for her to stop.

"I'll be fine. I won't… Allow myself another failure…" she mumbled, but then began to fall again. Dororo grabbed hold of her hand, keeping her from falling.

"It would be more of a disservice to your team to put yourself in danger. And to your family."

"Dororo, I—"

There came a whistle, followed by a laugh, "Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt anything! Are you sure that's appropriate for the battlefield, Lupa-chan?"

"Lay off of her, Chunini," Mahihi muttered as he, Chunini, and Giroro emerged from the brush. Kururu was there as well, but was still slung over Chunini's shoulder.

Lupapa's face reddened a bit, and she let go of her grip on Dororo's hand, "It took you all long enough!"

"Where's Fujuju at? Don't tell me he's still out there," Mahihi sighed despairingly.

"Is that a bad thing? Isn't he on our side as well?" Giroro asked, looking sideways to Mahihi. Mahihi's frown only deepened.

"Ugh! Heavy!" Chunini tossed Kururu off of her like he was a piece of luggage, and turned to Giroro. "Fujuju's not a bad guy, except for one teeny, tiny problem."

"He gets fire-drunk," Mahihi added gravely. "Loves explosions, flames. If he gets too much, he's unstoppable until…."

"Until…?" Giroro ventured.

"Well, we don't know," Chunini answered. "We never let him get that bad! We always limited how much fire he was allowed to use."

"He burnt down a whole city after a fireworks show and still wanted more," Mahihi added, scratching his head. "We better go stop him, Chunini."

"Right! Lupa-chan, look after my baggage, would you?" Chunini asked, pointing to Kururu.

"Don't you "Lupa-chan" me!" she snapped.

"I'm going to go look for my daughter," Giroro added, taking up one of his guns.

"Keep your eye open for Rokiki," Mahihi added. "He's capable of anything, at this point, and I don't hold anything against him. Remember, we're still enemies to him."

"Right," Giroro nodded, and then took off into the woods.

Chunini and Mahihi took off flying moments later, leaving Dororo and Lupapa alone once again.

"Rokiki doesn't like to lose," Lupapa said warningly to Dororo as he took up his sword once again. "He won't stop until he gets what he wants. And that Pekoponian looks like trouble."

"We're not a very functional bunch, but Keroro-dono's worked miracles before. We need to keep hopeful. That's the key to victory," Dororo said with a grin. "You and Kururu-dono stay here, in case Teicho-dono, Tamama-dono, or Kirere-chan show up."

"Right," Lupapa nodded, and watched as Dororo hopped up and then vanished.

"Kukuku! I hate that woman," Kururu laughed weakly as he now came too, and Lupapa sighed.

"Me, too," she mumbled.

"Eh?" Tamama stopped at the noise of some branches breaking, and called out, "Gunso-san! Kii-chi! Giroro-san!... Anybody?"

He had heard the sound of explosions before, but they had stopped a while back. Tamama continued to walk cautiously through the forest, coming to a halt as he smelt something; it was like… Gunpowder. A familiar smell, from working with Giroro.

Tamama turned around, and was taken aback at the stark white mask staring back at him. The eyes were like black goggles, and the small figure, only a bit taller than him, also wore a black cloak tied with a red ribbon, black gloves, and heavy black boots. There was a flat, brimmed black hat atop his head, and a black cloth veil coming down from the sides of it. There was a gray ball in his hand, something Tamama recognized in a split-second as a bomb.

"Ga—Gyaaa!" Tamama took off running from the explosion as the little creature threw the bomb right at him. The black tadpole barely missed, and from beneath the laugh there came laughing.

"Fuuuuujujujuju! These are the kinds of games I like! Don't you like games?" the voice cackled out, and from beneath the cloak there came another bomb, which he threw right at the tree Tamama hid behind. "I like games! All kinds of games! Chess, checkers… All sorts!"

"This guy's worse than an angry Momochi!" Tamama croaked out in terror. Then, something snapped in him, and he glared at the sound of his inner voice berating him. 'You're scared of this!? You go against Natchi everyday! And your affections for Gunso-san are tested daily by that woman! This one's nothing compared to what you've gone up against!'

Tamama nodded, agreeing with the voice in his head. At this same time, Chunini and Mahihi stopped right above them, seeing the black-costumed Keronian beneath them.

"Found him!" Mahihi called out. "What... What's that kid doing?!"

Tamama stood there a moment, staring down his attacker. There came another laugh, and then Tamama focused, building a jealousy ball. He threw the good-sized ball, and it impacted with the bomb that had been thrown at him. Mahihi used his surfboard to guard him from the explosion, and Chunini was flown back a bit.

Tamama stood the victor, smiling victoriously over the other Keronian.

"Eh?" it started to stir, and he sat up and pulled off the mask, revealing himself to be Fujuju. "Where did I go? Tamama-chan?"

"EH?! Fujuju-san?!" Tamama took a step back. "Y-You were the one who—"

"Thank you for stopping me," Fujuju stood, holding his mask under one arm. "I got a little carried away, again, it looks like…"

"Fujuju-kun! Are you nice and not crazy now?!" Chunini called up cautiously.

"…Chunini, we've gotta move out. I hear our backup at the gates! Better let our reinforcements in!" Mahihi nodded over to the right, and Chunini floated up a bit more, and went to follow him. "You guys join up with Lupapa!"

"Quite a bit of fireworks… Like a holiday, almost," Kezanstav smiled down at Romama, who looked back up at him with a cold, hard glare. "…You know, Rokiki's not bad, but… You were my original partner. Don't you remember how we went around the world together? Wouldn't you like that again? You could ever bring your girlfriend; I know right where she is. Down to the street address. It could be like old times."

Romama remained silent and glaring, and Kezanstav sighed, "I suppose not, then. Well, no matter. There's always Rokiki, and that little pink Keronian child. At least she can take a joke."

He turned back to the balcony, and Romama continued to wriggle, giving a grunt of frustration moments later as he saw he wasn't moving.

Kirere and Keroro stopped long enough to catch their breath, the little girl collapsing on her rear on the forest floor and Keroro leaning against a tree while holding onto on of his sides.

"Through this I'm quickly learning that I haven't been spending nearly enough time in my physical training," Keroro huffed. "Kire-chan, are you all right?"

"I feel like my legs are going to snap off!" Kirere answered in a moan. "Why can't we get bad guys who don't run so fast, Ojiisama!?"

"I wish I knew that," Keroro sat down in front of Kirere and gave a sigh. "What I wouldn't give to be back building Gunpla, but… Family is family."

"Do you think my family's okay?" Kirere asked, her face now giving way to a worried expression.

"Hrm? Giroro and Kururu? Gero gero gero! Most certainly! Why, I'd bet my rarest Gunpla figure on it! One Pekoponian and one rouge Keronian are no match for us! Eh, Kirere-chan? You've suddenly lost most of your already pale coloring!"

Kirere said nothing, only gulped and scooted back a little bit more. Keroro went cold as he felt a presence behind him, one even stronger than that of Giroro or Natsumi their angriest. He slowly turned around, shaking, and Rokiki smiled back down at him in return.

"Easier than I thought," he laughed, and lifted up Keroro by the top of the head. Keroro's eyes met with Rokiki's, and neither said nothing for a moment, until Rokiki was briefly caught offguard by Kirere's pounding him with her fists. He lifted her up by the head with the other hand and laughed.

"And it just gets easier," Rokiki laughed while Kirere still struggled in his grasp. "Time to get back, I suppose…"

He started to walk back, but he was stopped as something floated down in front of him quickly, blocking his path back to Kezanstav's mansion. He first looked up at the metallic white legs, then continued to look up and up, until he reached the angry, stone-serious face of the girl in the white and blue power suit.

"Hey, put those down, those are my stupid frogs!" Natsumi said gravely.

"Natsumi-dono! Bravo! You've been working on your entrances!" Keroro clapped his hands together and grinned in approval.

"H-how did you get in?!" Rokiki asked in confusion, but after a moment regained himself and smiled. "…No matter, you can have this one. I'm just interested in this one."

He threw Keroro at Natsumi, and then took off, Kirere in his grasp, and rushing through the woods like a wild animal.

"Ojiisama! HELP!"

"Ki—Kirere-chan!"

"Just, you're all too much trouble," Natsumi lifted up Keroro and then floated up, her laser sword in one hand and the Keronian in the other. She then took off in pursuit of Rokiki, Keroro clutching onto her tightly all the while, and following Kirere's screaming.


	15. Chapter 15

The explosions had stopped, as had a lot of the yelling Romama had heard from beneath only moments ago. Kezanstav noticed this, too, and tapped his fingers impatiently against the railing of the balcony. He turned away from the scene before them, and coldly announced to Romama, "I'm going to check on that red fool. Stay put."

Romama shut his eyes and bowed his head; this didn't look good. The Nikolai he'd known years ago wasn't the same Kezanstav that stood before him, this one was a monster….

"Romama! Let's go to India today!"

"India?" Romama lifted his head up from the newspaper he'd been reading; he'd slowly been picking up enough Russian to understand it. "I don't even know what that is."

"It's warmer there! You won't have to stay inside so much!" Nikolai fell onto his knees in front of Romama and grinned. Romama looked at the small fire burning in the shack they shared and then up at Nikolai.

"All right, we'll go," Romama tossed aside the blanket he'd been hidden under and pulled out a metallic ball with an antenna sticking up from it.

"We can spend a few months there, and by the time it's summer and too hot we'll find somewhere even better!" the young teenager lifted up Romama and stood up, and Romama gave a sigh.

"You're going to wear me down," Romama muttered.

"Don't be such an old man! We're all one another has," Nikolai's voice fell a little bit as he said this, and he clutched onto Romama a bit tighter, like he was a comforting doll.

"…I wish I could give you your family back," Romama said, his one hand hovering over the Kero Ball.

"And I wish you I could give you your team back," Nikolai answered. "We… We'll be all right, though! I'll never leave you, I promise! You won't leave me either, right?"

"Right," Romama nodded.

"Hehe, you're like my little Guardian Angel, you know that?" Nikolai returned to his cheery self at this point. "When I write my first book, I'll dedicate it to you! Even if you do hate reading!"

"I don't hate it, I just think time could be better spent. I'm only learning your weird language out of necessity."

"You hate anything relating to school," Nikolai chuckled, and Romama gave a grumble. "Come on, I want to see an elephant!"

"An elephant better be something edible," Romama grumbled, and Nikolai gave another laugh.

"Lookkkk outttttt!" Romama was pulled out of his dreaming by a sudden, shrilled scream, and opened his eyes wide to see Natsumi flying straight towards him, with Keroro clutched onto her. She grabbed onto the chair Romama was tied to with her free hand, and flew straight into the mansion.

"Ojiisama! You're alive!" Keroro called out, and Romama glared upward at him. "Oh, those evil eyes…."

"Would you two stupid frogs keep it quiet?!" Natsumi floated down to the ground and looked about in the empty white mansion. "You, stupid frog number one, work on untying stupid frog number two!"

"Right! That I can do!" Keroro hopped down from Natsumi as she set down Romama on the ground, and Keroro went to attempting to untying the ropes… Then he attempted to bite through them, then he pulled at them. "My, Kezanstav-san knows some complicated knots! One would think he was in the Keron Navy!"

"Hurry up!" Natsumi snapped, and Keroro turned around and shouted back at her.

"Stupid Pekoponian, I'm going as fast as I can! Patience is a virtue!"

"Well, we'll be dead if you don't hurry it up!"

And bickering between guardian of the earth and wannabe conqueror of the planet continued, with a rage boiling in Romama so great at their inappropriate arguing, he felt something churning in his stomach, which worked its way up to his throat, and eventually came out as a booming, "BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!"

"O-Ojiisama?" Keroro finally squeaked out after a few silent moments. From his stunned expression, even Romama had been surprised by this.

"Did, I… Just…"

"Quick! Hide!" Natsumi lifted up Keroro by the head and Romama by the chair once more and took refuge behind a large stone pillar.

Kezanstav sauntered into the room, a smile on his face as Rokiki followed behind him, Kirere struggling underneath one of his arms.

"Knock it off, of you won't stay that cute much longer," Rokiki snapped, following a whap on the top of Kirere's head. "Are you sure this is the one you want?"

"Yes," was Kezanstav's sharp answer. "Hrm… Looks like our guest has left… Or he's still here, but with friends."

"Stupid Frog, what're you doing?!" Natsumi whispered as she noticed now Keroro had taken out a file and was filing away on the ropes that bound Romama.

"A man's never without his Gunpla tools, and this is the reason why!" Keroro returned in a hush as he continued to file through.

"So what's this one do, anyway?" Rokiki set Kirere down on the ground, and she immediately delivered a kick to one of his legs. Rokiki gave a growl in return, and reached for her neck. Kezanstav stopped him short, however, and knelt down, holding out one hand to Kirere and used the other to hold back Rokiki.

"You want to be stronger, don't you?" Kezanstav smiled from underneath the bandages. "Be…. Not so clumsy… Not told that you're in the way anymore. I think we got off on the wrong foot, but I think we might be able to work together. You're just some toy for their amusement… And yet you know you're meant for something important, you can feel it. You know it. Wouldn't you like to reach your full potential?"

"I… I want… I… N-no…" she attempted to sound brave, but this came out incredibly weak. Kezanstav sighed and stood.

"Put her in a room, she shouldn't be too much trouble or much of a threat," he sighed, and Rokiki grumbled, but drug away the child once more. Keroro, at this point, had finally finished cutting through Romama's ropes, and Romama stood up from the chair, grateful to have his mobility back.

Rokiki returned then, shutting the door behind him and holding a hand to his cheek, "That little brat kicked me in the mouth."

"She'll learn to settle down," Kezanstav reassured him. "Soon we won't have any of them to worry about."

"We'll have a full army at our disposal," Rokiki answered with a sharp-tooth grin.

"Why even have them around?" Kezanstav's words made Rokiki's head jerk over to him.

"What?" there was a tone of surprise in Rokiki's voice. "What do you mean?"

"Why have them weighing us down?" Kezanstav turned to Rokiki, and the red Keronian took a step back from him. "The fewer chefs in the kitchen, the better, right?!"

Natsumi took a break from this to look down at Romama and Keroro, and noticed Romama gone. She looked up just in time to see him slipping out through the doors behind Kezanstav and Rokiki.

"Wait, you—" Natsumi placed a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Keroro jumped back in horror, against Natsumi's legs, as both were noticed by the other two in the room, and both Kezanstav and Rokiki approached them.

"Still no signal, creepy eyes?" Chunini bent down to look over Kururu's shoulder, and he remained silently typing. "I get it, you're still mad at me, is that right? Well, you shouldn't be! I was just acting, and I happen to be one of those actors who really gets into her role!"

"You have a hard time talking about things that aren't you, don't you?" Kururu muttered, and Chunini gave a huff and turned her tail to Kururu, walking away from him with her usual proud, haughty look upon her face.

"Who knew Gunso had so many other friends on this planet?" Fuyuki said in amazement as he looked over the numerous Keronians at work. Along with them were Momoka (dressed in her power suit), Koyuki, Miss Lee and himself, all of whom had gotten in with the help of Mahihi… Natsumi had gone in search of Keroro, while Mois was perched outside of the dome field, waiting for a signal. Lupapa was working on re-bandaging the wound she had inflicted upon herself when Koyuki smiled and knelt down beside her.

"Let me give you a hand with this!" the ninja girl offered, and Lupapa hesitated for a moment, then handed her the bandages.

"I really wish we had more time for introductions, but I've got a really bad feeling, and my feelings are rarely wrong," Mahihi stood next to Fuyuki and looked up at the young boy. "We've been real rats tricking you guys like this, but you just have to trust us that we're on your side. I like to think this is something your Keroro would do if it were you on the line."

"Gunso's not always the clearest thinker, but he does what's right," Fuyuki answered. "Mahihi Chui, is there anything we can do to help?"

"At this point, stay safe, stay out of the way of Rokiki, and keep what I know you brought with you safe," Mahihi answered, and Fuyuki looked a bit surprised at this last part of the lieutenant's warning.

"No sign of either of them," Giroro muttered as he came through the clearing, looking a bit concerned now. "I've scanned this entire area twice… They've got to be inside somewhere."

"What about on that ship?" Fuyuki pointed up towards the golden-colored ship, and Mahihi looked skeptical.

"That'd mean that they were getting ready for an escape from here… They could be there, but I doubt it."

"Then it'd have to be the main house," Lupapa started to stand, but fell back down again. "Damn it!"

"You're out of the game, Lupapa," Mahihi said to her. "You'll hurt yourself if you go to fight."

"That's all right. I don't have much else to live for, the way things stand," Lupapa muttered.

"Don't be foolish," Giroro turned to her. "You have your family. They don't want to see you hurt, just like you don't want to see them hurt. Don't injure yourself for our causes."

"It's my cause, too," Lupapa snapped. "Rokiki won't hurt me if I go up against him."

"But that other guy would. I'm siding with Aka Baka. Let us take care of this one," Mahihi said sternly, easing the purple Keornian back down onto the ground.

"Oh, what a twisted fate is this…" Fujuju sighed to himself as he polished the soot off of the mask her wore, and sat a little further away from the rest of the camp. "…Tamama-chan? What're you doing over here?" he asked, noting the young Keronian's eyes scanning about the woods as he walked absently near Fujuju. "Worried for your Superior and your little sister? Don't be, they're in capable hands. They'll be fine, I'm sure of it. They both seem quite intelligent!"

"You don't know them like I do if you honestly think that," Tamama muttered, his shoulders slumping a little.

Kirere pulled at the doorknob, but to no avail. She had no tools to disassemble it with, and the only window in the room was too high up and too heavy for her to lift. She kicked at the door, but only gave a groan of pain and fell back onto the ground, hitting her head and giving another pained groan. She shook her head and sat up again, groggily, and glared at the door. She stood and positioned herself in front of it.

"Tamama… Impact!" she yelled out, and waited for something to happen…. Nothing….

"Assassin… Magic!" she called out this time, and waited again. Again, silence. She gave a moan and fell back down to her knees. "How come I don't get any cool powers!? What would Dad do… Shoot it down, because he has guns…. Papa would… Use his head…"

She sat there for a moment, then stood, and ran, full force at the door. She bounced back off it. Romama, from the other side, gave a jolt of surprise at the sudden bang against the door he ran past, and cautiously opened it to see what had just happened. Kirere was passed out on the floor, and there was a mark on the other side of the white door, he noted as he pulled it back to look at it. He snapped his fingers a few times in front of her face and she slowly came to.

"I don't think he meant it like that," she mumbled.

"Eh?" he blinked a few times, and then shook his head and stood her up. Not a smart one in the bunch, he thought with a sigh. He gave a grunt and lifted up the little girl, and then continued his run down the hall, pulling down an old sword that decorated one of the hall walls along the way. He about used this when at the first story a blue flash jumped down in front of him. Dororo quickly drew his own sword to stop Romama's blade, and both relaxed as they realized the identity of one another.

"Romama-dono! And Kirere-chan?" Dororo looked back over Romama's shoulder to Kirere. "Have you seen Teicho-dono?"

"Ugh… Make the spinning go spot," Kirere mumbled from behind Romama. He handed the little girl off to a bewildered Dororo, then turned back to the stairs. "W-wait! Romama-dono, where are you going?!"

He gave no answer, but only vanished.

"Afro Gunso… Gunso's got the afro…" Keroro sang to himself to occupy the time as he lied down on the floor of the otherwise bare room. During all of this Natsumi was attempting to open the lone door of the room, and then kicked at it.

"I could bang up against it with my head and it wouldn't budge! Just what are these made out of!? And stop singing, it's annoying!" she sat down on the ground cross-legged and sighed. She was back in her normal civilian attire, having had the pendant she wore to activate it stolen by Rokiki, as had Keroro's Gunpla-building supplies. "You Stupid Frog! This is all your fault!" she turned around and snapped at him, and Keroro gave a jolt, and sat straight up at this accusation.

"My fault!? Don't go passing the buck so quickly Natsumi-dono!" Keroro shouted in return, shaking a fist at her.

"Your Stupid Frog Uncle brought all of these weirdos out, and now they're out there doing who-knows-what!" Natsumi shouted in return. "…Who knows what they could do to the Earth if they got strong enough."

"You're mistaken if you think I'm going to let them take my glory!" Keroro laughed. "It's only a matter of time before Giroro or Dororo comes in and saves us like always!"

"If I remember, Giroro's brother couldn't take out that Kezanstav guy, and now he's got a friend who's just as mean and just as powerful as him and who's on his side."

Keroro's face looked worried now; he hadn't considered these things, clearly, "W-well I have faith in my men. They'll pull through, just like always! Whether it be by wit or dumb luck!"

"I'm going to die before I even get my date with Saburo Senpai," Natsumi laid her head against one of the walls and bemoaned aloud. There then came a banging on the door, and Natsumi stood and backed up, while Keroro gave a smile.

"Gero gero gero! See, what did I tell you, Natsumi-dono, you—"

"You're too damn loud," Rokiki growled as he alone stood in the doorway. "I brought you some lunch. It's not much, but I'll be damned if you're dying from something as preventable as starvation."

He tossed a small bag, which Natsumi caught while looking a bit puzzled, and Rokiki then slammed the door shut again. The disappointment was written all over Keroro's face. Natsumi opened the bag, and took out an apple, studying it, while going over Rokiki's actions. There were also sandwiches in the bag, and bottled water.

"Maybe there's more to him," the mumbled.

Dororo landed in the middle of the group, Kirere now fully awake and clinging onto him as they soared through the air. She climbed off, shakily, and was just as soon scooped up by Giroro, who embraced her tightly. His face grew bright red and her released her from this death grip as he realized much to his embarrassment the eyes that were on both of them.

"I… Good job escaping from the enemy," he said, clearing his throat.

"My head hurts," Kirere muttered as she took as seat on the ground. "Romama's the one who saved me… He's back at the house. They've got Natsumi-san and Ojiisan."

"N-Natsumi!?" Giroro choked.

"Natsumi-san?!" Koyuki yelped out in equal distress.

"So they are in the house," Mahihi nodded, and looked over at Fujuju. "We might need to get you a little drunk, Fuju."

"Please don't make me do that again," Fujuju pleaded.

"We'll have lots of backup, don't worry, that won't happen to you again," Mahihi reassured him. "You'll be under control. Your little buddy's pretty good at snapping you out of it."

"Momotchi and I have a lot of experience with that sort of thing, you'll be okay!" Tamama gave a thumbs up, and Momoka in return placed a fist on either side of the young Keronian's head.

"Are you saying I'm unstable?!" she snarled.

"I'm going to go fight with you," Lupapa stood now and looked at Dororo, determined.

"Lupapa-dono, are you sure you'll be all right to fight?" Dororo asked, stepping over to her. She gave a smile and nodded.

"It's not everyday I get an opportunity to fight with my equal. Plus I have a score to settle with Rokiki," she answered. Dororo and she returned the same knowing look, and Koyuki glanced at this a moment curiously before giving a gasp.

"So that's how it is!" she whispered to herself, and Dororo looked a bit weary at this exclamation.

"I'm going to work on getting to that ship, but I'm going to need help," Mahihi looked directly at Giroro. "What do you say? Join forces for the ones we love most?"

"Only to keep an eye on you," Giroro answered, and Mahihi nodded.

Giroro then glanced at Kirere while he reloaded his weapon, "I know what you're going to say, and my answer is you're going to stay with Kururu. He'll make sure you're all right."

"You give me too much credit," Kururu muttered without looking away from his computer screen.

"Lee, you stay and guard Fuyuki Hinata. He's important," Chunini instructed her manager. "Keep him safe like he was me."

Lee answered with a nod and a drawing of her sword. Fuyuki was unnerved at the sight of this, and took a step back from Lee.

Kirere watched as they all then took off in their own respective directions, and then turned back around to Kururu. He now held in one hand her weapon, and she took it up with a gasp of surprise.

"Kuku! You'll be in my way here, so you might as well go with them. Just don't get me in trouble," Kururu answered. Kirere began to hug him, but stopped, and settled on a pat on the back of his head. "Kuku… I'm not a dog," he muttered. She then ran off to go join the others, and Fuyuki crouched down beside him.

"Wow, what is all of that?" Fuyuki asked as he watched Kururu fly through the numerous screens on his laptop.

"I'm finally getting signals. I'm just making sure it doesn't come down to our last resort," he answered, pointing up to Mois, who was floating above all of them with her staff drawn, awaiting orders.

"They've been quiet a while," Kezanstav said plainly as he closed the doors to his balcony and then looked out the clear glass. "At this rate we won't get to play with all of those toys that came with your ship."

"What was that you were saying earlier about getting rid of all of them?" Rokiki ignored Kezanstav's concerns and immediately cut to the chase.

"We don't need them. They're all weak, emotionally, physically, or mentally," Kezanstav answered. "We're the same, however. We'll take one, it's all we need. Easier to control the fewer we have, too…. Don't tell me you think this is going too far."

"I just think it's superfluous," Rokiki answered. "It's a waste of our efforts."

"After what they caused me, there is no such thing as a waste of my efforts when it comes to my revenge!" Kezanstav snapped. "Stop being weak! They aren't your comrades or your friends anymore! They're as useless as the next bunch! We're better than all of them."

He snapped his head in the direction of a speaker set up on the wall of the hall as it gave a blaring noise, "They tripped up one of the sensors on the ship. I have to go see what that's about."

He hurried out, leaving Rokiki by himself. The Keronian took a few steps forward, and placed a hand on the glass, "…Lupapa… Mahihi… Maybe… This is… Too high a price."


	16. Chapter 16

Haruki went for another cigarette, but much to his frustration, found the pack empty. He grunted and tossed it out into the dark night, which in only hours would give way to morning. He sat in the doorway of the opened glass sliding doors, looking at his watch and then back out at the backyard. Marco had passed out on the couch from jet lag, and Daisy was preoccupying herself best she knew. She caught sight of Haruki, and tapped him on the head, scaring the mechanic and causing him to jump.

"I feel just as helpless," she admitted, and Haruki stood and slid the door close.

"I'm going for a drive," he answered, and Daisy stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder end then placing something in Haruki's palm.

"If you happen to see my husband, give him that," she instructed. Haruki nodded, putting the ring in the pocket of his jeans, and then walked out and started up his scooter, and took off down the road.

He had only seen the direction they were going in, and continued going in that very direction, 'I know they told me to stay, but I've got a horrible feeling all of a sudden… And I feel like this is what you'd want me to do if you were here, Grandma.'

Rokiki looked out at the forest in front of him apprehensively… It'd been too silent for too long, and Kezanstav had been gone for quite some time. He turned away for the inside, but stopped short; Romama stood there, carrying his bokken sword at his side.

"You look ridiculous out of uniform. And you're insulting me with that thing you call a weapon," Rokiki snapped, and Romama clenched his grip around the sword only tighter. "This is, however, something to brighten my day…"

He pulled out his saber, a long, thick, curved one, and went straight for Romama. The young major managed to roll out of the way, causing Rokiki to fall onto the concrete of the balcony. He gave a growl and then glared at Romama, while the younger Keronian stood up on the rail of the balcony, looking calmly to Rokiki. A bit of wind blew, but Romama didn't budge an inch.

Rokiki snarled, hopped up onto the balcony rail animalistically, and then began to swing at Romama, eventually backing the young boy to the corner of the rail as he tried to dodged blows with the wooden sword. Romama lost balance as he struggled to retain a little bit of footing, and went flying off of the rail. Rokiki grinned widely, then bent over to see his handiwork. All he saw were stars when Romama jumped back up from where he had been clinging on and hit him directly in the face. Rokiki fell back onto the ground, clutching the sore area and snarling.

"You little brat! You've just multiplied your suffering!" he rushed to Romama, but was stopped, knocked down by a low flying object. That same object turned back around, and both were able to get a better look. Romama's jaw dropped, and he was stunned for a few moments, and near tears at the wondrous sight before him. Not only was it Mahihi on the surfboard, but Giroro as well. Both wore white headbands; Giroro's read "723" while Mahihi's read "Daisy". Both had their guns drawn, and Rokiki stumbled back, also surprised at this.

"Wh-What're you… You're alive?!" Rokiki sputtered.

"They're a bunch of kids, but they don't go down easily… I thought I'd stick with the dark horses," Mahihi answered, hopping off of the board and approaching Rokiki. "You've had your fun, Man. Now quit it before you really get my angry."

"After what he did?!" Rokiki snapped. "Never!"

"Everyone he embarrassed you in front of is gone, Rokiki. They're all gone. There's no team to lead, there's no more mission. We missed our mission," Mahihi said, his voice especially soft on his last sentence. Rokiki's own features softened for a moment, but then turned harsh again, and he swung with the saber.

"Mahihi!" Giroro shouted as the large Keronian fell, felling a cold chill of horror go through him. Rokiki, too, was stunned by his own actions, and took a few steps back, away from the fallen Mahihi. Giroro gave a growl and started shooting, while Romama took Mahihi and drug him inside for safety.

While this all went on, Keroro and Natsumi looked out, having heard the gunshots.

"That sounded like Giroro…" Natsumi muttered.

"Gero? Natsumi-dono, how are you so certain?"

"I just know," Natsumi shook her head. "We need to get out there!"

"Agreed, but it's not as though anyone would know we were in here!" Keroro sighed and slumped back down against the wall of the bare room. "To survive your reign of terror only to be done in by a Pekoponian I don't even know, as well as one of my own! What a horrible fate!"

Keroro suddenly clung onto Natsumi as the door again opened, but this fear subsided as Koyuki rushed in, grabbing onto a stunned Natsumi and spinning her around.

"Gwa, Koyuki-chan, I'm going to get sick!" she cried out, and Koyuki stopped, and gave an apologetic laugh.

"I knew keeping one of these would come in handy," Lupapa muttered as she placed the pick in the small case, full of picks, cards, and keys of various sizes, and shoved it back up beneath her hat.

"Dororo! I knew my platoon would pull through!" Keroro wept, gripping onto the ninja's hand in gratitude.

"A true friend never forgets his own!" Dororo laughed, and this led to an awkward silence between the two.

"Urhhh right!" Keroro smiled and nodded. "Good you're here."

"I thought I heard some shots, I think it could've been Giroro," Natsumi said, and Lupapa's face paled.

"I've got to hurry, that could be Rokiki," Lupapa turned to leave, and Dororo went to follow her. She stopped, looking sternly to him. "I can't have you getting hurt, this is a fight I've got to go to on my own. Make sure your friends are all right. If I don't return, just… You'll know what to do!"

"Really she's stubborn," Keroro muttered, sighing and shaking his head. "What you see in here, Dororo, I'll never know."

"W-Why does everyone keep talking like that?!" Dororo said to himself as he then followed the purple Keronian.

"Natsumi-dono, I'll help you out of here!" Koyuki exclaimed.

"Okay, Koyuki, that'd be—WHA!" Natsumi was lifted into the arms of the cheerful ninja girl, and then sprung up into the air continued to jump down the hall at great speeds. It took Keroro a moment to realize he'd been left.

"W-Wait for me!" he called out, running as quick as he could to follow them. He finally ran out of breath, and stopped to hold onto his aching side. He looked up, and his panting stopped, replaced by curiosity. He was clutching onto a black fabric, which, he realized after a moment, was attached to a scary-white masked individual. He jumped back in horror, giving a yell, and Tamama gave a giggle and poked his head out from behind the masked creature.

"Gunso-san, you're all right!" he chirped happily, and then read the terrified expression on the sergeant's face. "Don't worry, it's only Fujuju Socho!"

"O-Oh, Fujuju! You look… A lot different from when I last saw you!" Keroro stood and scratched the back of his head. "What's going on around here?"

"Kezanstav-san has a bunch traps close to the computers he uses, so Momotchi's been taking care of those!" Tamama answered, and seconds after this a large stone statue flew past all of them, knocking against the wall and tearing at the paper to reveal a steel structure beneath.

"Explains why the doors were so hard to open…" Keroro muttered, looking at the heavy metal wall.

"Hehe, he really thinks a couple of toys can stop me," Momoka grinned and clenched her fist, and Tamama returned this with a determined smile.

"Now it's our turn to get to work!" Tamama grinned, but this faded as Fujuju reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder.

"Don't let me get too bad," he asked in a weak tone.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Tamama answered him confidently. "Gunso-san, you might want to make sure everyone's out of here! This could get really messy."

"Uh right…. What is it… You three plan to do?" Keroro ventured to ask, and Fujuju removed a match from one of his gloves, and lit it against the glove.

"Have a little bit of fun with his control room," Fujuju answered, his voice already changed a bit as he held a round bomb in his hand. Keroro took this as the hint to back away.

"I… I'll do my best!" Keroro answered, and Tamama waved him off cheerily. "….It's moments like that that make me realize I wasn't the one who drew the shortest straw. Urk! Gotta make sure there's no one else here! Gotta make sure! Gotta—GERO!"

He had turned the corner at a full run, knocking heads with another thick skull, and he gave a gasp when his vision finally focused again and he saw Kirere sitting across from him, rubbing her own head.

"I'm going to start wearing a helmet!" she moaned, and then shook her head. "Eh….? Ah, Ojiisan!" she pounced on Keroro, knocking the sergeant off of his feet again. "You're okay!"

"Kirere-chan! What… What're you doing here by yourself?!" Keroro asked, standing up and looking down at the young girl.

"I went to rescue you, too," she answered, holding up her large wrench and smiling.

"There's… Just something so wrong about that…" Keroro muttered sadly. "A-All right, Kirere-chan, we've got to make sure there's no one else here! I saw Dororo and Lupapa running to find Rokiki, so we have to get them out of here!"

"Why?" she frowned, and both jumped at the sound of an explosion, followed by a long trail of laughter.

"That's why," Keroro answered, "Come on, they went this way!"

She followed him up until they came upon Lupapa and Dororo, but it wasn't just these two. Rokiki stood there as well, smiling and tossing something up and down in his hand. Kirere paled as she immediately recognized the object.

"Dad's belt?" she mumbled, and Keroro looked at her, and cold see her outwardly shaking.

"Teicho-dono!" Dororo gasped as he looked over his shoulder. Rokiki took this moment to attempt an attack, but was stopped by Lupapa, who blocked the saber with her staff. Rokiki was stunned by this action, and jumped back, and gave a grumble.

"So that's how it is with you? You betrayed me, too," he snapped. "You all betrayed me. You didn't say anything when I had proof he'd cheated his way onto that mission, you let him lead you to your deaths!"

"You hurt my dad, didn't you?" Kirere asked darkly, and Rokiki snapped his head over to the young girl.

"Would someone get that stupid brat?! I've had enough with children interfering in the business of adults!"

"He hurt my dad…" she muttered. "And I'm not stupid."

Her eyes flashed, and Keroro saw this as a sign to slowly make his distance from the child.

"Getting back to—" the large wrench swung at Rokiki, landing a blow on him before he could recover, and he went to swipe at the child, only to have Dororo come between him and Kirere, while Lupapa pulled the girl away from the two.

The sword fight between the two was like one between Lupapa and Dororo; one blocking each other's own blade, often tying up the fight. Dororo was managing, however, to put Rokiki into a corner, and had him blocked against a wall and had the upper hand by the time it was to deliver his own blow.

"Your turn," Rokiki snapped, and Dororo stood there a moment, and caught Lupapa and Kirere out of the corner of his eye.

"Not here," Dororo took a few steps back and sheathed his blade. "I will not bring myself to your level."

"So cool," Keroro muttered as he watched all this.

"Rokiki. Stop," Lupapa said firmly, and took a step forward to him. Rokiki went to retort, but all lost their footing suddenly as the ground beneath them began to shake violently.

Lupapa slammed into Rokiki, and he held onto her as the ground continued to rumble. Kirere and Keroro gripped onto one another, and Dororo managed to grip onto the window sill to get a good look at what was going on. Rokiki, too managed to make his way over while Lupapa braced herself against one of the walls, and the red Keronian went pale at the sight before him.

"How did he… He… But he'd need the… Everyone, out!" he turned around. "We've got to get out of here, I know a way!"

"There's no way we're following you anywhere!" Lupapa returned as he rushed to the doorway.

"Trust me!" he shouted before exiting. Dororo, Keroro, and Kirere all looked to Lupapa.

"…Let's go," she said after a pause, waving toward them.

"What's going on?!" Kirere asked as they hurried out.

"Too… Too much running!" Keroro panted. Lupapa looked over her shoulder, out at the large window.

"Lupapa-dono, what are those things?" Dororo asked.

"Those are the ultimate weapons we had on the ship. Only the person who has access to the Kero Ball can use them," Lupapa replied. "If those are active, then… That means that Pekoponian has the Kero Ball."

"Hey, are you seeing this?" Chunini spoke into her microphone headset, and Kururu gave a laugh in response.

"Yes… Ancient Keronian weaponry… Not a lot unlike the mechas we use today," he answered as he looked at the video unfolding on his screen. Chunini was equipped with a video camera in addition to the microphone, which she wore in the form of an eye piece. In front of her were three huge statues, all in the rounded shapes of Keronians, and all lumbering out from the sides of the ship. "Anything you can do to stop them and buy more time?"

"Maybe… I can definitely slow them down," she answered. "You still can't get any of your own weapons in here, huh? You're not very useful without your machines… At least that one little brat can fix the cable if it goes out."

"Do you want my help or not?" Kururu answered, and Chunini gave a sigh.

"Fine, I'm going," she stopped in front of one, and held her mace like it were a baseball bat. She gave out a long screech, and then swung the mace, causing the sound waves to travel to one of the statues and causing part of it to crumble.

"Kuku! Now that's impressive."

"What was that, a compliment I just heard?"

"Me? Never. I'll see what I can do here, kukuku!"

"Same here," said Chunini with a fiendish smile, taking up her mace and preparing to swing once more.

"Kezanstav has a Kero Ball," Rokiki explained as he led them through the forest. Lupapa had Kirere on her back as they walked along… Keroro was on a crestfallen Dororo's. "He must've found it on the ship! Why didn't I remember the Kero Ball!? He's gotten too powerful, he'll destroy even me at this point."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Lupapa asked. "To get us all out of the way?"

"No… Just him. But this… This is too much," Rokiki stopped, and held up one of this hands. Through the bushes came Tamama, Fujuju, and Momoka, who all looked battle-weary and confused.

"Gunso-san! What's with all of the shaking!? And what's he doing here!?" Tamama went wide-eyed and pointed to Rokiki.

"He's realizing the errors of his ways," Keroro answered.

"The Kero Ball's been used to activate our ultimate weapon," Lupapa said hurriedly to Fujuju.

"We don't have much time then! Tamama-chan, let's go!" Fujuju said from beneath his mask. "I… Have a lot more toys to play with yet…"

"We'll get them!" Tamama clenched his fist. "Let's go!"

"Be careful!" Kirere called out, and Tamama looked at her, surprised. "I need someone to pick on, so don't get hurt!"

"Just like me and my siblings," Lupapa said with a sigh.

"You had siblings?" Kirere looked over at Lupapa, and she nodded.

"I was to oldest of eight," she replied.

"We don't have time for this, let's move out!" Rokiki barked, and then continued on, parting ways with the split personalities, who hurried toward the moving statues.

They stopped, and came face-to-face with Lee's sword, as they came to the small camp that had been set up by their group. Kururu looked up from his laptop, and Fuyuki held up his hands and stepped in between Lee and the Keronians, "I-It's all right, Lee-san, it's just them!"

She eased her hold on her weapon, and Keroro and Kirere slid down the backs of Dororo and Lupapa.

"You!" Natsumi shouted, pushing past Lee and gripping onto Rokiki by the top of his head. "You're not so tough now! What's going on!? What're you doing around here now?!"

"I think he's on our side, you can put him down," Lupapa answered. "This isn't him."

Natsumi did so, although hesitantly, and Rokiki looked about at the group, "I… I don't know how to stop this… Romama was the only one who was able to have access to that thing."

"If I had mine this would be much easier," Keroro grumbled and kicked at the ground.

"What, this?" Fuyuki pulled out the Kero ball from his jacket pocket, and Keroro's eyes lit up, and he hugged onto Fuyuki's leg.

"Fuyuki-dono! I knew you'd come through for me!"

"That thing doesn't even work half the time!" Natsumi huffed. "He's got a perfect-working one!"

"Kuku! If only you had someone who worked on machines," Kururu muttered, and Keroro gave a look, as though he'd been struck by a bolt of brilliance. He turned round to Kirere and grinned, holding the ball out to her.

"What? I… I can't work on something like that! It's too important!" she yelped, backing away all of the way until she hit against Dororo. "I… I wouldn't know where to start!"

"With a screwdriver, preferably, kuku!"

"You can do it, Kire-chan! Go, go, Kire-chan!" Keroro waved out like a cheerleader, and Kirere took the ball hesitantly, and sat down on the ground. She cracked it open and went to work.

"This thing looks like it went through a dryer!" she exclaimed in a mutter, and Keroro gave a sheepish laugh.

"Do you think she can do it?" Lupapa asked as she watched the little girl work. Kirere looked up, noticed all of the eyes on her, and scooted around until she wasn't seem, although there was a small flush of red from being the focus of attention still on her cheeks.

"Kirere-chan is to this what you are to what you do best, Lupapa-dono! She'll be fine!" Dororo reassured her. Lupapa returned this with a nod, and Rokiki watched this all in silence, then looked back down at the ground. He was too deep in his thoughts, and was caught off guard by the strong punch, that sent him flying back. All stopped, and Kirere looked over her shoulder.

Giroro was balanced against Mahihi, and Mahihi was leaning against the smaller red Keronian, who held up his still-balled fist. Mahihi picked up the belt that had fallen to the ground in the process of Rokiki's flying, and passed it to Giroro.

"That's yours, Aka Baka," he heaved a breath, and Giroro slipped it back over his shoulder.

"You… You're all right! You're both all right!" Kirere gasped, and hopped up onto his feet.

"Congratulations," Kururu deadpanned.

"Sure! Can't kill us easily!" Mahihi exclaimed, and then flinched, "When he wakes up, I get to punch him."

"Wait a moment… Where's Romama-san at?" Fuyuki asked suddenly, and Keroro gave a yelp.

"I… Didn't even think about it… My own family…." Keroro muttered. "Oh dear…"

"Stupid Frog!" Natsumi snapped.

"Gwa! I know, I know!" Keroro groaned, clutching onto the sides of his helmet.

"Last I saw him, he was headed to finish some business," Giroro said amongst this, and looked over to the large mansion in the distance.

Kururu sat up from his computer, and listened intently to what was being said to him via his earphones.

"Looks like they're in need of backup. Hurry up on that thing," Kururu instructed Kirere, and she nodded, and went back to work.

"Don't rush me!" she snapped back, and Kururu gave an amused laugh.

"I never knew it'd go this way…" Rokiki admitted with sigh, looking down at the ground.

"Eh, you've always been a little bit of a moron," Mahihi admitted. "But you don't make for a good villain, even if you're scary. This group… Are morons, too. But I think between all of us there's half a brain somewhere."

"Let's hope," Rokiki looked over at all of the humans and Keronians, and then glanced at the explosions off in the distance.


	17. Chapter 17

"So, you just press the button, and depending on w"So, you just press the button, and depending on what button it is it'll do something?" Nikolai turned over the ancient bronze ball in his hands, studying it and the symbols, while Romama and he sat and ate in the Paris apartment they'd recently acquired. It'd been ten years since their first meeting, but this was the closest Nikolai had come to the Kero Ball, which he'd been taking more and more interest in lately.

"Mm," Romama nodded. "You should put it away now, it's not a toy. It's not something a civilian should even hold."

"Come on, let me hold it a little longer! Out of any of the things or technologies we've seen, this is still the best of them all! Could you become a human with this?"

"The last thing I'm interested in being is a Pekoponian," Romama shot back, finishing the soup he'd been eating while seated on the dark red couch, and he set down the bowl. "I'll go lock it back up now."

"You don't trust me at all, do you?"

"I-It's not, that, it's just…"

"I thought we were best friends! Come on, just a little longer. I won't do anything bad with it, I promise. Not like with the laser gun."

"You're lucky you didn't go starting another war with that thing," Romama grumbled, and plopped back down on the couch across from Nikolai.

"I'll take good care of it! Plus I got you a gift, so it's only fair!" Nikolai reached down and pulled up a bag, and set it on the coffee table.

"A gift? Some Pekopon holiday today?"

"Just for fun," Nikolai answered, and Romama's mouth twitched as he pulled out the golden necklace. "Don't you like it?"

"It's a bit… Showy for me," Romama answered, not wanting to admit how very gaudy he thought it was.

"Here, turn around, I'll help you put it on!" Nikolai lifted Romama off the couch and set him on the coffee table. Something felt off about this to Romama… Nikolai was so… Eager.

And now he stood, looking across at Nikolai, who had the Kero Ball in one hand. He had only his wooden sword and a deep glare. Kezanstav spun around toward Romama, and gave a smile through the bandages.

"Beautiful, isn't it? And this could've been both of ours. Shame, really. Now you get to watch them all destroy themselves."

"You're wrong," Romama snapped, and Kezanstav looked outwardly surprised at Romama's speaking. "They're strong. If I can't stop you… They'll do it. They're not as blind as I was to you. They… See right through you. Everyone sees through your tricks."

"Ninety years you say nothing, and when you finally do, it's babble," Kezanstav gave a laugh, and tossed the ball in his hand. "Ninety years was a long time to learn how to use this! Let's see if time's been so kind to you. What's going to win here… A little naïve runt, or the man with all of the power?"

"Enough words. We end this," Romama snapped, and Kezanstav's visible eye narrowed.

"Missing a piece?! What's that mean!?" Keroro yelped.

"Just that! There's a piece that's supposed to be here that isn't!" Kirere answered, holding up the open portion of the Kero Ball to him.

"Does someone have something that could be used, maybe?" Fuyuki asked, looking around at the group of humans and Keronians. At this, Lupapa pulled out her lock-picking kit, and dumped it out in front of Kirere, and began to hold up various pieces of metal, only to have Kirere shake her head "no" to each one.

"Huh?" Mahihi looked up from watching this to a buzzing sound, and ventured over to the edge of the woods, which was near them. "Well I'll be damned. It's the slacker."

It was Haruki, who had just thrown a large rock at the forcefield and thrown out his shoulder in the process. Mahihi waved at him dully, and Haruki lit up. Mahihi pulled out a card from his belt, and placed it on the forecefield, opening up a doorway Haruki was able to drive through with his scooter.

"If you'd just knocked I would've let you in," Mahihi sighed as he placed the card back in his belt and walked back to the group. Lupapa now had a good-sized mound of keys, picks, locks and other various other tools of her trades laid out in front of the little girl. Giroro was starting to offer up parts of weapons, and Keroro pieces of Gunpla.

"Lupapa-dono, that's… Astounding," Dororo admitted as she continued to hold up pins to Kirere. Koyuki stood beside her Keronian friend, and gave a nod.

"She used to carry a lot more," Rokiki answered, and immediately cringed and looked away as Dororo's eyes fell upon him. "When we… Were on the same Platoon together."

"You're more transparent than Giroro," Keroro said with a huff.

"Haruki!?" Kirere gasped as the human knelt down next to her. "How did you—"

"My family spirits helped, I guess. What's going on here?"

"There's a piece missing, but… I don't know what! I don't know where I could find it," Kirere said with a shake of the head.

"Those things are getting closer," Giroro muttered to himself, and Haruki looked up to see exactly the "what" was. After a brief grimace of shock and terror, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lighter, and shook his head.

"I should've just been a doctor," he muttered as he shakily attempted to light the cigarette. Kirere went to complain about the scent of the smoke, then the lighter caught her eye; more rather, the clear inner-workings of it.

"That's it! It's in your lighter!" Kirere hopped up. "Give it to me!"

"Manners, manners!" Kururu chuckled his reminder from behind his computer screen.

"Give it to me or we all die!" Kirere shouted, and Haruki, a bit surprised by this tone, tossed her the lighter, which she popped open and had disassembled in moments.

"It was in a cheap lighter, the missing piece…" Keroro muttered numbly to Giroro and Dororo, who were equally stunned.

"Hey, one-hundred yen is a lot for me!" Haruki answered indignantly.

"There!" she snapped it together and held it up. "It should work now!"

"Should?" Keroro repeated as she placed it in his hands. "Yes… The power… All coming back now…."

"G-Gunso, I know you won't go and do anything bad with that!" Fuyuki reminded him.

"Urk… O-Of course not, Fuyuki-dono!" Keroro answered. "Not when one has a vendetta to settle! That takes top priority."

"If we're ready to go kick some ass, I'm game," Mahihi took up his board and dusted it off, waiting for the others.

"Kukuku! Our front lines can't hold them back much longer," Kururu announced.

"We're off, then!" Keroro held up his weapon triumphantly, while Giroro hopped onto Mahihi's board.

"Hey, pigtails," Rokiki tossed up a small tag to Natsumi, which she immediately recognized as the tag that controlled her power suit. "If you get to him before me, give him a good punch in the face."

"Kirere," Giroro looked back at his daughter, and she gave a tired expression, waiting for him to bar her from this as well. "…Stay close, know your limits."

"What?" she blinked, but he was off then with Mahihi. Lupapa, Dororo, Koyuki and Rokiki were soon afterward.

"Go on ahead, we'll be okay here," Haruki reassured her as she looked back at him, and Kururu only gave another laugh.

Keroro gave a salute to Fuyuki before Natsumi lifted him up and flew off, and she also grabbed the little girl in her other arm as she took off towards the moving statues.

Romama gave a puff of breath and continued to pant while holding on to his aching arm, one of the results of the very one-sided battle. Kezanstav was about to make another move, when he turned his head sharply in the direction of the three statues. It was now two, as one tumbled to the ground. Romama took this opportunity to run full-force and tackled him successfully, causing the Kero Ball to roll out of his hand. This started a scramble for it.

While this happened, Chunini spoke into his microphone to Kururu proudly, "One down, two to go! Hey, Kuru-kun, if we make it out of here… How about karaoke, my treat?"

"This doesn't seem like the time to ask for a date," Kururu said, briefly stopping his typing away at his keyboard.

"I told you before, you're not my type," she answered. "Plus I'm never the one who asks out. I'm the one who's asked out!" at this, she gave another load screech, causing one of the hands of the statue, that had been trying to swipe at her, crumble a bit at the fingers.

"Stupid Frog, I'm going to get you to your stupid nepew!" Natsumi called out to him.

"That sounds fine, Natsumi-dono, but how do you plan on—GEROOOOO!" she tossed the green frog and he went flying towards the mansion. Kirere's grip on Natsumi's arm tightened.

"Don't throw me!" the little girl begged. She didn't need to be. Natsumi pulled out her shield to block one of the large hands of the statue, and Kirere went falling to the ground. Before she made impact, Mahihi's surfboard flew down, and Giroro grabbed her by the top of the head and set her on top of the board.

"We're gonna go see how Romama's fairing. From my point of view, it's not that good," Mahihi announced, and Giroro nodded. He flew close down to the mansion, and hopped off of his surfboard, and looked about. He as well as the other two gave a cough at the black smoke pouring out of the house; Fujuju and Tamama's handiwork was starting to spread throughout the home.

Kezanstav was standing opposite of a beaten Romama as well as a terrified-looking Keroro, who held out his own Kero Ball shakily.

"Keroro!" Giroro barked. "Take care of him! Come on!"

"I can't think of the sequence… My mind… It just went blank," Keroro admitted with a mumble.

"A-Are you joking!?" Mahihi, Giroro, and Kirere yelped.

"Gero…" Keroro muttered.

Kezanstav gave a laugh at this, "Even if they defeat those three, there's a button on here that will send reinforcements… You think these are the only things available to me? I have the powers of a god, even without this thing! That one little Kero Ball's no match for the firepower I've spent my whole life attaining!"

"He's right," Romama spoke quietly, and Keroro looked at his uncle, shaking. "He does have a lot of power… A lot more than even us. He'll be able to bring more, he'll destroy the planet if he has to. If he wants to. Even if we defeat these… They'll just keep coming."

"O-Ojiisama! We can't give up like this!" Keroro said in a shaking tone. "We've worked ourselves out of tighter spots!"

"I brought you into this. I'm sorry," Romama said in a hushed tone. "Please forgive me."

"What's he saying?" Kirere whispered to Giroro. "He's tricking him, right?"

"I don't know," Giroro admitted. Kirere was a bit worried by this, and showed it by scooting closer to Giroro. He returned his with a hand on her shoulder, and looked behind him, out at Natsumi. Another statue had fallen, and they were working on the last one, all fighting to disable it.

"Hrm, looks like they'll be done with those quickly. So what am I going to call out next? Something from the Angols, maybe? Or maybe the Maronians," Kezanstav said thoughtfully. "Maybe we should ask all of the people throwing away their lives as we speak how they want to end them… Ah, wait, I know! Axolian weaponry, that'll do it!"

He pressed down on a few buttons, and all watched this in horror. He Kezanstav laughed the entire time he did this.

"I… I can't believe he actually did it…" Mahihi said shakily. "He's lost his mind."

"Teicho," Kururu came onto Keroro's frequency. "Are we launching our plan of last resort into action?"

Keroro looked over to Giroro, and Giroro looked away, as did Mahihi, "Wait just another minute, Kururu Soucho. Just one more minute."

"Copy that," Kururu answered.

Romama looked down at Keroro's Kero Ball, which was now at his nephew's side. He grabbed it quickly and before her could say anything he was walking toward Kezanstav, his hand over a triangular button. Kezanstav took a step back, and all watched this with confusion.

"This will call our Keronian forces into action, to stop you," Romama explained. "But I don't want that."

"You've gone soft," Kezanstav spat, and Romama took this opportunity to throw the ball, knocking Kezanstav's out of his hand and sending both flying. Keroro made a slide and managed to catch them, but his victory dance ended briefly as Kezanstav lunged for him.

"Stay away from my nephew!" Romama growled, coming in between the two and stopping a puzzled Kezanstav. "This is between you and me, and what I made you!"

"What you made me? You're taking a great deal of credit," Kezanstav laughed, and went to go for Keroro, but Romama blocked him again.

"I… I wanted you to be my friend so badly I ended up being a horrible one, and letting you destroy yourself!" Romama answered. "I'd been such a liar, I overcompensated when I met someone new; I gave you too much power for a Pekoponian! Too much power for anyone! I… I want you to forgive me, because I forgive you, Nikolai!"

Something curious happened to Kezanstav at these words. He straightened up, slowly, and looked down at Romama, straight in the eye, "…You would have left me, like the others had. I had to keep you from leaving me."

"No, I wouldn't have," Romama answered. "You… You were my only friend."

"Teicho—" Kururu came over the communicator once more.

"J-Just five more seconds, Kururu Soucho!" Keroro begged, and Kururu gave a huff.

"I treated you horribly, yet you never ran," Kezanstav muttered. "I… I should have seen that."

Romama went to take his Kero Ball, but Keroro hesitated at first, not letting go of his grip. Romama finally pulled it out of his hands, and handed it up to Kezanstav, "I trust you. You'll make this right."

"I'm very tired," Kezanstav admitted, looking down at the Kero Ball.

"Then rest," Kezanstav knelt down, and Romama placed a hand on top of his. "It's time for you to rest, Nicky."

Kezanstav looked down at the ball, and nodded, and began to press a series of buttons, "You'll always be my family."

Romama gave a small smile of relief at this, and then backed away. Giroro was too taken by the scene to realize for a moment what was going on, but when he did he took Kirere by the hand and jerked her back up onto the board. The force field around them was now flickering, and Kirere helped Keroro and then finally Romama onto the board.

"What's he doing!?" Kirere asked.

"He put on the self-destruct on that thing… I'd only ever heard stories about guys doing that!" Mahihi admitted. "We've got about two minutes before everything in this bubble he's got goes the way of a Saturday night with Fujuju."

"How's that?" asked Keroro.

"Up in flames," Mahihi answered.

"I think there's enough gravel to make another mountain," Chunini floated down to where the others fought. Fujuju gave another long laugh as he tossed out another bomb, chipping away at even more of the stone, while Rokiki, Lupapa, Dororo, and Koyuki worked on restraining the rock monster.

"Just like the old days, huh, Rokiki?" Lupapa huffed as she jumped back with a rope, and Rokiki and she met again moments later, crossing the ropes again.

"No, a lot's changed with you… And I'm all right with that," Rokiki answered. "PULL!"

All four did this on command, and Tamama only just got Fujuju out of the way of the collapsing creature. Fujuju was still laughing wildly, and Tamama delivered a hard slap across the British Keronian's face.

"Eh…?" Fujuju's voice changed back to its usual lighted tone. "Tama-chan? Did we win yet?"

"Boy we've gotta get that under control with you," Tamama said in a tired tone.  
Fuyuki, Haruki, and Lee came running through the forest brush, with Kururu stored in Fuyuki's backpack.

"Nee-chan! This place is getting ready to self destruct!" Fuyuki said throat gasps of air as Natsumi landed down near her brother.

"What?" Natsumi spun around, wide-eyed.

"And… There's some other nasty things on their way," Haruki added in a pant. "I… I need to get more in shape."

"How can we get out of here?!" Tamama asked, holding up his hands to his mouth.

"I wouldn't get too worried," Chunini grinned coolly. "We have a ride, afterall." She then pointed, and all looked up at the rotating spaceship.

"Gunso!" Fuyuki gasped happily as now Keroro came into sight, at the front of Mahihi's board and clinging onto it for dear life.

"Natsumi!" Giroro hopped off the board and ran to her. "Are you all right?"

"I think we'll all be better once we're on that ship," Lee reloaded her gun and looked up at the ship.

"How do we get up there?" asked Fuyuki.

"Oh, I've got that under control," Chunini twisted the star on her choker, and the reactions ranged from surprised to terrified to exhausted as the small army was teleported to the ship, landing right in hub of it. The Romama platoon went to their stations immediately, taking their seats like it were second nature.

"I think you need to get to your seat," Rokiki instructed Romama as he headed to the controls of the ship.

"No, it's yours," Romama answered, and Rokiki turned around to him, "It should've always been yours."

"You earned it," Rokiki replied, returning to the numerous switches and buttons. "Plus, someone has to pilot this thing."

Romama nodded and smiled, and took a seat at the captain's chair.

"Hey, crazy-eyes! Pull up a chair, we need extra man-power!" Chunini pulled, and Kururu gave a grunt and then took a seat on the floor next to her chair, and plugged in his laptop. She glanced at him as he held onto one of his headphones and gave a laugh, "Kuku! Yes, it's me, I'm going to need you to divert your attention to some incoming forces. No, that won't be necessary."

"You!" Romama hopped out of his chair and hurried over to Keroro.

"Me?" Keroro blinked and pointed to himself, and Romama gave a huff.

"…Yes… Follow me, we're going above deck!"

"When did Romama-dono start talking?" Dororo wondered aloud.

"Ah, I'm being so rude, we need to get you all some seats! This could be… Bumpy," Fujuju stood from his chair and entered in a few codes on a wall panel, and from beneath the Pekoponians and Keronians there came out a few chairs. "For when we would do dealings with other aliens."

"Would you QUIT playing homemaker for five minutes and get to work?!" Lupapa snapped as he went to showing them out to buckle the belts of the seats.

"Y-Yes, of course. Sorry," Fujuju stuttered, and took his seat once more.

"Where do you think Ojiisan went?" Kirere asked Tamama, and he shook his head.

"No clue… But I hope Gunso-san's all right," Tamama muttered.

"What are we doing here?! This is where it's going to blow up!" Keroro cried frantically as Romama opened up the hatch and walked up onto the flat surface of the ship.

"If we don't get that force field secure, the explosion's going to go for miles!" Romama explained. "Hurry! We have less than thirty seconds!"

"R-Right!" Keroro nodded, and gave a yelp as the ship took off. Romama gripped onto him and vice-versa, and moments after making it past the flickering barrier, Keroro pressed down on two of the buttons, causing the ball to shoot out a force field that replaced the old one. It came not a moment too soon. From inside, Fujuju's eyes sparkled at the contained blast.

"Marvelous…" he said beneath his breath.

"We're not out of the storm, yet!" Mahihi called out. "That moron also called a bunch of backup infantry."

"Already taken care of," Kururu gave a thumbs up from his laptop, and Mahihi leaned back in his chair.

"What did you do exactly?" Mahihi asked, and Kururu only gave a laugh.

"We… We did it…" Keroro looked up from the blast, where there was now only a fresh crater. He yelped, and dropped the sparking Kero Ball, looking down at it with awe. "Looks as though that was a little much to ask of it… Eh? Ojiisama?"

Romama was standing still, not bothered by the quick speed of the ship, looking down at the vanishing black hole. Keroro shakily rose, the burnt Kero Ball in his hand, and looked down at the wreckage with Romama.

"It's all right, Ojiisama," Keroro placed a hand on his uncle's shoulder. "After all, you have us now!"

Romama grimaced as Keroro's shoulder pat transformed into an all-out hug, "UGH! Get off of me, you dunce!"

"Eh?" after Romama had successfully pushed Keroro away, the green Keronian looked up at the sky. Romama, too, looked alarmed for a moment at the approaching snake-like machinery. This was replaced with curiosity, however, as both squinted at the small shining figure in the approaching sunlight.

"Mois-dono?" Keroro muttered. A weak call, which sounded something like, "Hellamgeddon, 1/1,000 could then be heard, and the silently approaching weapons were turned into a white brightness, then a fantastic rain of sparkling white glitter.

"Yay, Mois-dono!" Keroro jumped up happily, and Mois turned, and waved to her uncle, although Keroro could not see it.

"Ojiisama!" came her weak call.

"So you're really quitting?" Kirere's eyes lit up, and Haruki nodded.

"Yeah, I figured after tonight I need my lungs working at full capacity, if I want to hang out with you guys," he nodded, and then removed the pack from his shirt pocket, and tossed the pack of cigarettes into the kitchen trash can. She gave a happy squeal and hugged onto his leg, and he gave a laugh.

Marco sat on the open porch with Lupapa in front of him, and Rokiki on her side, "So long story short, yes, we did date…. And we might've been engaged, too, but that was a while ago."

"So what do you think of her new boyfriend?" Marco asked, leaning in to Rokiki to hear his answer.

"New boyfriend?" Rokiki repeated, "Is that who that is?" Lupapa slapped her face and gave a groan.

"What a long day… Lee, hold me?" Chunini asked weakly, and Lee did so, lifting up the yellow Keronian into her arms as they stood in the Hinata house together.

"Kukuku! I wonder about you…" Kururu said as he walked past them in the living room.

"I like to keep people guessing," Chunini sighed with a content smile. "I have a crick in my neck, Lee."

"We'll take care of it, Miss Chu," Lee answered dutifully. "I'll call your masseur as soon as we get home."

"Wow, you have a lot of new friends, Gunso!" Fuyuki sat on the couch and laughed, and Keroro nodded, but gave a small sigh of frustration.

"Not a single one for my new world order," Keroro said with a bit of disappointment in his tone. Tamama, who was nearby with Momoka, overheard this, and perked up, then went off to find Fujuju. He was in the kitchen, back in his usual red and yellow scarf and cooking at the stove with help of a stool, and using all of the burners to cook several more dishes; he'd already worked on getting drinks set up.

"Fujuju-san!" Tamama said in a sing-song tone, and Fujuju turned to him, and looked down at the young boy. "Huh? What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled by the melancholy look on Fujuju's face.

Fujuju didn't say anything, but Tamama looked back to see what he was seeing, and it became apparent. All of the other Keronians were with their human friends, save for him. He was the only one there without anyone to greet him home; even Kururu had had Mois to greet him.

"It's all right, I have lots of friends!" Tamama exclaimed. "We'll get you a nice one who's afraid of fires!"

"I might just have to take you up on that, Tama-chan," Fujuju said with a pleasant grin.

"I… I know I did an awful thing, but don't make me beg, Daisy!" Giroro had gone into his tent to put away his weaponry, and had unbeknownst to him also walked into a conversation taking place outside of his tent.

"Eavesdropping is wrong… But… If I happen to overhear them, that's not the same thing," he said to himself, crossing his arms and leaning against the tent wall to hear better.

"What're you doing?" Kirere asked, and he jumped, having not heard the young girl walk in.

"Shh!" he held up a finger to his lips, and she nodded and leaned down, her ear also at the tent.

"I already promised you that part of my life is over with, I'm not going with anyone. I'm staying with you!" Mahihi continued. "Just say something, please?"

"I'm pregnant," Giroro's jaw dropped at this proclamation, and Kirere gave a small gasp.

"….Are you like… Sure of that….?" Mahihi asked after a long silence.

"Mm," she answered.

"I-If that's possible, then…" Giroro trailed off.

"I can have little brothers and sisters!" Kirere cheered, and Giroro gave a jump, as well as a yell. This caused the tent to bounce up, and there was a silence, then Mahihi pulled back the flap to Giroro's tent.

"…Hey, Aka Baka, did you get bit by something?" Mahihi asked. "If you're going crazy my wife's not going to let you be godfather, Dude."

Romama sat stoically, watching this all from his own seat on the couch, and then stood, and walked towards the glass door.

"Ojiisama, where're you going?" asked Keroro, who also hopped off of the couch.

"To find Kodada," Romama answered, walking to the ship, which was parked floating above the house but with an invisibility field around it. "It's the one last thing I have to do."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Rokiki asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Romama countered, and he only looked to aside.

"I'm coming too, then," Chunini walked out, and took her place next to Romama. "It's only right I check on my sister. Lee, you keep everyone safe."

"She's in Germany, right?" Tamama poked his head out. "I hear the candy's great there!"

"And they've got the Autobahn!" Kirere chimed in. "Can we come? Please?!"

"I finished all of my cooking… I should be able to go," Fujuju removed the pot holders from his hands and stepped out.

"Looks like you're taking all of your friends, even if you don't want to," Mahihi said with a laugh. "I'll be right back, Daisy. I promise."

"You better," she looked down at him. "You have a room to paint when you get home."

"I love when she tells me to do things," Mahihi said with a smile.

"I don't know about letting them all off like that…" Natsumi said to Fuyuki with a bit of worry, and Fuyuki gave a laugh.

"They'll be all right, Nee-chan! I trust Gunso. Plus Romama Shosa seems to like to keep him in line," Fuyuki said lightly.

"We'll be back for dinner!" Keroro waved.

"Be back for your chores!" Natsumi called out, and Keroro gave a grumble as he was transported onto the ship with the others.

The Romama platoon took their positions as before, and Romama had an unusual smile on his face as he took his seat. It was noted that the others didn't look quite so optimistic, but they took off all the same.

"Kodada-san… I've got so much to tell you when we get there…" Romama said to himself, gripping onto the arms of his seat as they took off.


	18. Chapter 18

"Mysterious crater forms overnight near rural farm area," Fuyuki read aloud from his screen, and then sat back and sighed. "That's seem so exciting if I didn't know what'd really happened. Well, it's good that Gunso and his friends didn't get caught, at least… I hope that they're doing all right."

"So are you gonna kiss her when you see her?" Kirere asked, leaning over and smiling playfully at Romama.

"Probably, I—Wha—That's personal!" Romama snapped, jumping in his seat.

"Hehe, I'm going to miss having you around, even if you were kind of grumpy!" Kirere giggled. "And now you can talk! Your voice is nice, I always thought you'd sound like Ojiisan!"

"You talk a lot," Romama sighed, and Tamama turned from the large window he was looking out of.

"I've been telling her that for months, and she still hasn't stopped," he grumbled.

"Hehehe, the innocence of youth, eh, Giroro Gocho?" Keroro nudged at Giroro. "Eh, what's up with you?" he asked, noting Giroro's far away look.

"Maybe he's nervous because he's gonna be a grandfather!" Kirere chimed in.

"Godfather!" Giroro corrected, snapping out of his trance. "You're too young to even look at boys!"

"Godfather, Giroro-dono?" Dororo wondered aloud.

"Aw, Lupapa-chan, don't you think that's moving a little quick?" asked Chunini, and Lupapa clenched down at her control panel, making small cracks in it. "Does explain why you've been getting chubby, though."

"Shut your fat mouth!" Lupapa barked at her.

"Nah, it's me," Mahihi sighed, and pulled away from his panel.

"Really now? Congratulations then, Mahi-san!" said Fujuju with a grin.

"I hate kids but I'll pretend I'm happy for you," Chunini chimed in.

"So when are you making it for them?" Kirere asked, taking a seat next to Kururu, and he looked at her, puzzled.

"What… Do you think…." Giroro trailed off, and Kururu gave a long, amused cackle. Kirere gave him a questioning look, and the red Keronian felt increasingly uncomfortable. "W-We'll talk when we get home."

"What'd I say?" she wondered, and Kururu only continued to laugh.

"Here it is, she should be here. She usually gets picked up around this time from here," Rokiki stopped at the edge of the park, his arms folded against his chest. Romama looked about the park, and then began to venture closer to the swings and slides.

"Aw, a tearful reunion—Eh? Fujuju-san, what's the matter with you?" Keroro wondered, noting the anxious expression of not only Fujuju, but the other Romama platoon members as well.

"Eh?" Romama looked over at one of the swings, and saw a young teenaged girl there, with short red hair, partially tied back by a purple hairpin. She had large, golden-colored eyes, and an orange sweater and long blue jeans on, as well and orange sandals. Her nails were brightly colored, and she had shiny bracelets on her arms, one of which had a familiar purple symbol on it; his. Around her neck was a red choker with a purple wagon-wheel shape on it. Romama looked at her in awe as it struck him who it was.

"Ko.. Koda—"

"Kody!" came an unfamiliar voice, and Romama jerked his head up as Kodada hopped up from her swing and picked up the red backpack that had been at her side.

"She found her own family, too," Mahihi explained as she embraced the young blonde man, who laughed and then took her bag from her.

"Hold on, I forgot my phone!" she turned around to grab it from another swing, and stopped, her eyes meeting with Romama's. "…I'll catch up with you, all right?"

"Eh? All right," he nodded, puzzled. He tossed the bag over his back, and then began to walk away towards what Romama assumed was his car.

"Romama-kun," she knelt down on the sand in front of him, "That's… That's really you! You… You're all right. I'm so glad!" she said with a smile, wiping away a few tears from her eyes.

"Why don't you say something to her, too? You're her sister," Kirere asked Chunini, who looked outwardly upset at the sight of her sister.

"Because she's got her own life now, and who would want me in it? Plus I have Lee, she's my family now," Chunini lit up and smiled, but Lupapa, who was next to her, could see it was just an act. "She's doing great on her own!"

"So… He's your brother," Romama repeated, looking past Kodada at the man, who was now sitting in his car talking on his phone. He wasn't entirely convinced of this, but allowed it to slide.

She nodded and smiled weakly, "I have a mother and father here, too. I traveled around looking for you, but… I found this family ten years ago, and I realized that…. Well, I guess I lost hope, especially after I met up with everyone and no one had seen you. I'm sorry, if I'd known you were—"

"It's okay," Romama nodded. "I'm happy you're safe, Kodada-san. It's what I wanted for you, for… You to be happy. And you're happy, right?"

"Yes, very," she nodded, and placed a hand on the side of his face. "So… Are we going to go back now, to Keron? If that's the case, then… I want to say goodbye to everyone at least."

"Stay here," Romama answered, and she blinked in surprise. "Your happiness… Is what I wanted the most for you. And you have that."

"So this is really goodbye for us, huh?" she wiped her eyes again, and he placed his hand over hers.

"If you need me, I'll be there," he answered. "But… Don't be afraid to be happy. Even if that means you find someone else. It's all right. I don't mind it. I'll be all right."

He took a step back, letting her hand fall, and she looked back over her shoulder as the horn of her brother's car honked, "He'll be mad if we're late…"

"Yeah," he nodded, and returned the wave she gave him as she looked back once more and then ran to her brother's car, leaving him alone at the playground. As he watched them drive off, he felt and looked strangely at peace with himself.

"That didn't look like it went well," Tamama muttered.

"I think it went well as it could. It was thousands of years, what did he expect to happen?" Rokiki grunted as Romama took seat on one of the swings and looked down at the sand, deep in contemplation.

The swing was absolutely still, so Romama was taken aback as he felt a push, and then another one. He looked over his shoulder, and it was his nephew, pushing him on the swing. Keroro gave a laugh and a grin, and Romama returned this, and he eventually began to laugh.

"Come on, swing me!" Kirere took Giroro's hand and pulled him along.

"Wha—Kirere-chan, this isn't… All right, but this isn't some picnic we're on, remember!"

"…Hey, fat ass," Chunini looked over at Lupapa, and nudged her. "Beat you to the slide?"

"What are you, three?" Lupapa folded her arms and turned away from Chunini, but groaned as she felt the orange eyes of the yellow Keronian woman upon her. "…You're not going to stop staring at me until I do it, aren't you?"

"Not a chance!" Chunini answered, then took off running. Lupapa gave a sigh, but followed after her.

"What on Pekopon are they doing?" Rokiki asked as he stood next to Mahihi, watching this all unfold. He was bewildered as Keroro continued to swing Romama, and Romama gave a laugh, although at the same time it was apparent that there were tears in his eyes.

"I think… That he's getting to be a kid for the first time in a long time," Mahihi explained. "And everyone else is happy because they're alive. Wouldn't you be?"

"I am, but I don't show it by making sandcastles," Rokiki snorted, watching now as Tamama and Fujuju were doing just this.

The others had joined in various activities as well, except for Kururu, who seemed content sitting on his laptop while perched atop the monkey bars. Dororo hung upside down from these, in a meditative position, and Keroro continued to push Romama on the swing. The fun nephew and uncle were having ceased when Keroro swung too hard, and sent Romama flying. Romama stomped back moments later, and Giroro and Fujuju had to pull him away as he went to strangle Keroro with said swing.

"You wanna push me on the swing?"

"I want a stiff drink," Rokiki answered without skipping a beat.

"Yeah. Me, too," Mahihi sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"So what're they going to do now?" Kirere asked her father as she sat watching the Romama platoon. They were a distance away from Keroro's platoon, that was in front of Giroro's tent, and were in an opposite corner of the Hinatas' yard.

"If they go to join them, I swear…." Natsumi stood in the doorway, shaking her head, with Fuyuki beside her and Mois behind them, peeking over their shoulders to watch. It was already evening again, and Keroro looked anxiously across, making several attempts to sneak over but each time being pulled back by Dororo.

"Forgive me, Teicho-dono, but this isn't a matter we're part of," he sighed as he again drug Keroro back to their camp.

"But I wanna hear," Keroro moaned, giving a sigh of defeat.

"All right, I suppose it's settled then," Rokiki nodded sagely and gave a sigh.

"Right," Romama nodded, and took a few steps back from them. They in turn lined up in front of him, and all watched as Romama stood at attention, and saluted them. They returned this in perfectly military fashion, and then Romama barked out, "Romama Shotai, DIS-MISSED!"

"Dismissed?!" Keroro squeaked.

"Sure," Chunini let go of her salute and walked toward him. "I have an album coming out soon, I'm already really behind on it."

"And I need to get back to my work as well," Lupapa picked up her staff from the ground, the old wooden one she had been using back while in the rainforest. "They need me there."

"I've got a room to paint and a wife and family to support and yeah, she doesn't like it when I travel for work. You know how it is," Mahihi blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, Fujuju-san's gonna join us!" Tamama chimed in, and Fujuju looked a bit apologetic, and folded his hands together nervously.

"Actually… I may get out for a bit, see what I've been missing," he began. "From what I can see, there's a lot of it, and… I want it, what you all have gotten. I hope I'm not hurting your feelings too much, Tama-chan. Please understand."

"Eh, that's okay—But you've gotta come over some time, you haven't even made any cakes yet!" Tamama answered, and Fujuju laughed lightly.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"And what about you, Rokiki-dono?" Dororo asked, and Rokiki gave a grunt.

"Going to travel around for a bit, see what this planet's got to offer. Plus I've recently become aware of a place called Australia, and it looks like it has a lot of training ground for a warrior like me."

"We'll keep in touch, though, don't worry. I'll come and bug you whenever I need a hot meal," Chunini said with a giggle and a wink.

"Great, just great," Natsumi's mouth twitched a bit at this. "Guess we're not getting rid of them afterall."

"That's all right, Nee-chan," Fuyuki answered. "I don't think they want to take over the planet, like Gunso, they just want to live on it."

"Miss Chu, the limo is here," Lee announced, poking her head out of the door and catching Fuyuki off guard; she had completely silent walking up to them, like a ninja.

"Ah, wonderful! Mahihi, I'll give you and your wife a ride if you want, at a discount faire, of course!" Chunini said in a trilling tone as she headed to the glass door.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you," Mahihi sighed. "Hey, Aka Baka! I want you over in a few weeks. I'm not putting that furniture together on my own."

"Like I'd take time out of our own invasion to help with you and your mundane tasks," Giroro grunted, but from the expression on his face it was clear this was meant in good humor.

"Good luck with your travesty!" Kirere called out, and Giroro gave a yelp. "What? It's what Papa called it!"

"You're not even that cute kind of dim," Tamama mumbled darkly to her. "You're just... Your own planet."

"Hehehe… Yeah, catch you guys later!" Mahihi waved goodbye, and then walked into the house, saying to himself. "They're harmless, but they're weirdos."

"Marco and I are getting a ride with Rokiki," Lupapa explained, taking a step towards them now. "His mother's probably worried sick, and I'll have hell to pay for taking him this far away from her. Hopefully she'll understand."

"Feel free to visit whenever you find time, Lupapa-dono," said Dororo pleasantly to her.

"Mm, you're welcome in my neighborhood as well," she said as she turned and left to collect Marco. This left Rokiki standing in front of them, and he pointed directly at Dororo, and spoke darkly.

"One wrong move, and rest assured I will hunt you," he said before leaving for the ship.

"I wonder what I did to make him not like me? I... I don't even think I've spoken to him!" Dororo asked, truly puzzled by this.

"At least he'll remember you," Keroro said offhandedly, and by Dororo's moan it was clear this had been a crushing blow to his self-worth.

"I'm going to catch a ride… Start in England, see where I go from there. Cheers!" Fujuju saluted them a goodbye, and then fumbled off to join Rokiki. Marco and Lupapa soon after joined them, and before long they, as well as the ship were gone. Now only Romama stood there before them, looking a bit awkward by himself as all eyes were on him.

"I'm going to be around," he answered, and then turned toward the back gate.

"Eh? Ojiisan? Where're you going?" asked Keroro.

"I… Have somebody to meet," he replied vaguely, and then opened the gate and was gone.

"Ow… Ow…" Aya rubbed at the sore area where she had bandaged her knee, and she grit her teeth as she attempted to rise again. Only half of the lights were on in the dance studio, and she was there alone, with only her stereo to keep her company. She turned it on again, starting the track over and taking it from the top. She nearly gave another tumble as the track stopped suddenly, but managed to grab onto the bar at the last minute.

"I'm sorry," came a weak voice from a shadow, and Aya immediately rose, and backed up against the piano in the room.

"W-Who's there? Stay back!" she called out, visibly shaking while doing this.

"It's me," he answered. "I'm… The one who's been leaving you water bottles."

"The Little Angel?" she relaxed a bit, "What… I thought you'd left…"

"I did. To finish some things with friends," he replied. "Don't be scared, please."

"I'm not, just… Why now?" she took a seat on the bench of the piano, and looked toward the shadow.

"I was tired of being quiet all of the time."

"Can you… Come out from the shadow then? I can't see you in here."

"Not yet. I just want you to know, that… I think you're doing a terrific job. You're not the best, but you try, and… It shows," he stuttered, while she sat, dumbstruck.

"I don't think anyone's ever complimented me before on my dancing…"

"Well… This is one," Romama replied. "Keep up your good work, and you'll get it. I know you will."

There was the sound of a door closing, and Aya rushed to the light switch, and flipped on all of the lights, but it was no use. There was no longer anyone in the room, just her.

"And if they ask, the story we're sticking with is?..." Haruki began.

"That you're visiting relatives, not that you're skipping town and dodging bill collectors!" Kirere said cheerily, and he patted her on the head. It had been a few weeks since the events with Kezanstav, Rokiki, and Kodada, and things had finally managed to calm down, with Kirere returning to work in the garage with a newly non-smoking Haruki.

"Good job, Kid. Now you ready?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly, placing her helmet over her head and climbing into Haruki's backpack. He put on the pack, then a helmet of his own, and then took off quickly on the bright red motorcycle, zooming down to the Hinatas' house so quickly he knocked down Keroro, who had been taking out the trash.

"Watch for pedestrians, Bill Dodger!" Keroro shouted from his place behind the bags of trash, waving his fist at Haruki. Kirere slipped out of the backpack and removed her helmet, and then hopped off of the bike.

"Bring me back a souvenir!" she called out, and he waved once more, and then zoomed down the road.

"Ah, Kirere-chan! It was getting a little bit lonely around here!" Keroro began to pull off his apron and bandanna as he and Kirere walked into the Hinatas' household, which was unusually silent.

"Did we get any mail?" she asked excitedly, and Keroro answered with pulling out two postcards from underneath his yellow helmet.

"One from Dad!" she exclaimed. "He's having a great time in Hawaii, except Daisy keeps making them move furniture… And she likes to throw things. Huh."

"What's that other one? From Kururu Socho?"

"Yeah, he's in Korea with Chunini-san, helping her finish up her album. It says… 'Don't break anything'."

"How very like him."

"How's Tama-nee-chan doing? Have you heard anything from him?"

"Why yes, earlier I got the strangest phone call from him!" Keroro answered. "It looks like Fujuju-san's already gotten some friends! A set of twins, about Fuyuki-dono's age. They were, what did he say…. Making brooms to fly on so they could get up to the top of Big Ben. There were all sorts of explosions in the background… Our call cut out towards the end, but I figured it wise to not call him back for a little while."

"How about Dororo-kun?"

"Nothing, but we can only assume he's having a good time on his vacation."

"Do you think he and Lupapa-san are stopping a lot of bad guys down there?"

"Knowing them, it's what they do for their main source of fun. Eh? Ojiisama?"

Sure enough, the tap on the glass door was Romama, who stood with a large, round plastic bag at his side, he dug into it and held it up, and Keroro immediately rushed to the door at the sight of the large watermelon.  
"Ojiisama always knows the password!" Keroro said cheerfully as he took a seat on the edge of the doorway.

"Idiot," was Romama's only answer as he took a set next to Keroro. Kirere hopped down in between them and gave a grin, and Romama gave a small smile. "You say food and you both come running, like puppies," he said while taking out a pocket knife and beginning to cut up the watermelon.

"You say free food and we move even faster!" Kirere chimed in, and he sighed and passed Keroro, and then her a slice.

"This is delicious, Ojiisama! Where did you manage to pick up such a thing?"

"A friend of mine… She brought it for me, but I couldn't eat it all. I didn't want to waste it," Romama answered calmly, taking a bite of his own slice. "There are oranges in there, too."

"Tonight we dine like kings, Kirere-chan!" Keroro exclaimed, the looked down and noted the girl pouring hot sauce on her watermelon slice before eating it. "….I'll never grow used to your doing that."

"You're all weird," Romama answered as he finished his watermelon slice and discarded it on top of the bag. "And fools. But you're family, meaning I'm stuck with you and I have to make the best of my situation."

"Finally he gets it!" Keroro called happily. "How about another hug?"

"Don't push it!" Romama snapped, and Kirere gave a laugh.

"So Ojiisama, if you're family then you won't mind helping your poor nephew out with an endeavor or two…"

"That's your own battle, I'm not fighting it for you," Romama answered quickly, cutting off another slice of watermelon. "If you want the planet, you work for it."

"Oh, no fair! What about nepotism!?"

"If I knew what that meant I wouldn't follow it anyway," Romama answered plainly. "I'm not handing you anything."

"No fair, no fair at all! And as good as we've been to you!"

This continued back and forth between the two until they finally finished the watermelon and ran out of energy, and Romama left, angered at the cruel card genetics had dealt him but secretly grateful for the company. And Kirere washed up and went to work in her own bedroom while Keroro went to work on Gunpla, happy to have none of his other teammates breathing down his neck for a change.

"There, done!" she said proudly as she put the last piece on with an electric screwdriver and then looked at her handiwork. "I'll have to show Tororo next time he comes to visit… Mm… Going past your bedtime isn't as much fun when you know you won't get in trouble for it…"

She gave a yawn, a stretch, and slunk off to her bedroom. She removed her brown gloves, tossed them aside, then crawled up into her bed and shut off her light. The day was over, and it was only a few more hours until the next one. Soon things would be back to normal, and everyone would be back to their attempts to take over Pekopon while attempting to get along in the process.

Until then she just enjoyed the unusual quiet.

The End


End file.
